Pacek family, state representative introduce new legislation on providing alcohol to minors

COLUMBUS — A Medina County couple who lost their son in an alcohol-related drowning spoke at the Ohio Statehouse on Tuesday morning regarding proposed legislation that would increase the penalty of furnishing alcohol to minors. At a news conference, Frank and Sharon Pacek spoke about their son, Trevor, who they described as a very loving individual. "Early in life, Trevor earned the nickname 'Loverboy,'" Frank Pacek said. "He wore his heart on his sleeve. He was kind and compassionate, always ready to welcome new people into his world." Frank Pacek said Trevor, who had four older sisters and one younger brother, was always very caring to his siblings. "He learned early on how to care for his sisters, how to make them feel comfortable, love them and listen to them," Frank said. "He learned early on how to protect them and keep them safe. He learned early on what it meant to be big brother." Trevor Pacek was a 2019 graduate of Brunswick High School and the Medina County Career Center, having studied in the construction trades program in the latter. On June 20, 2020, Trevor and a friend decided to visit another friend's house for a bonfire, a visit his parents said they were apprehensive about him making. "My wife and I were not a fan of the young man whose house Trevor was traveling to, but he is 19, so with hesitation and apprehension, our Trevor left our house at 10:50 p.m. to attend a small bonfire, telling his mother, 'I'll be gone a few minutes, Mom,' " Frank said. Sharon said shortly after 5:30 a.m. the next day, Father's Day, she and Frank faced every parent's worst nightmare. "An officer from the Medina Township Police Department called and asked if we had a son named Trevor, informed us that we needed to report to a residence on Remsen Road and that the police were looking for our son," she said. When the parents arrived on the property, police informed them Trevor and two other young men had taken a small boat out onto a pond while they were in an intoxicated state. The boat had capsized and only one of the young men had returned to land. "The only thing to do now was to wait," Sharon said. "We waited. We prayed. We were in shock." Shortly after 7 a.m., the body of one of the young men was found. Later, police had called in a cadaver dog in an attempt to find Trevor. "The air was silent," Sharon said through tears. "The workers were silent. And an eerie feeling fell upon the residence. It was then that I knew, I knew that dog found my Trevor and I knew Trevor wasn't coming home with us. He wouldn't be home to celebrate Father's Day with his father." Trevor had drowned in the pond after the boat capsized, cutting his life short at age 19. "No parent should ever have to experience seeing their own flesh and blood in a body bag," Sharon said. "Those images are forever burned into our memory." In the weeks and months that followed, Frank said, he and Sharon searched for answers as to how Trevor's death happened and how it could have been prevented. "To our dismay, Medina Township police took the lone survivor's story about the boat as the absolute truth," Frank said. "They never furthered their investigation into the happenings on the boat." Police did investigate the factor of alcohol in the drowning deaths of the two young men and found a parent living at the property had provided alcohol to the individuals who were on the boat. The parent was charged with furnishing alcohol to a minor, which is a first-degree misdemeanor in the state of Ohio. "The parent not only supplied the alcohol, he purchased more alcohol for the boys when he knew that the boys were already intoxicated," Frank said. Frank said while Trevor should have known better than to drink underage, the property owner never should have supplied the alcohol. "This parent turned a blind eye to what was happening on his property by leaving the boys unattended and unsupervised," Frank said. "This parent went inside his house and proceeded to go to sleep. This parent clearly did not used good judgment. He clearly showed lack of adult, parental responsibilities." "I truly feel that underage alcohol consumption and furnishing alcohol to an underage person is a tremendous health problem in our great state of Ohio," Sharon said. To back up her statement, she presented some statistics about alcohol-related deaths among minors. In 2010, she said, there were about 189,000 emergency room visits by individuals younger than 21 for injuries and other conditions linked to alcohol. "The three leading causes of death for 15- to 24-year-olds are automobile crashes, homicides and suicides," Sharon said. "Alcohol is a leading factor in all of them." Since Trevor's death, Sharon said, she and Frank have questioned Ohio's penalty for furnishing alcohol to minors. She said the parent who provided alcohol to Trevor was forced to pay $2,817 in fines and court costs, spend 120 days in jail, complete more than 200 hours of community service and serve five years probation. Sharon said she believes the punishment in this case should have been more severe given the circumstances. She said she is working with Rep. Sharon Ray, R-Wadsworth, to change the crime of furnishing alcohol to a minor from a first-degree misdemeanor to a fourth-degree felony when a death occurs as a result of the minor's intoxication. "Changing the law certainly will not ease the pain that our family is currently enduring, won't bring our Trevor back, won't fill the void that his senseless and untimely death has caused," Sharon Pacek said. "But it will have a lasting, lifelong impact on future generations." The Paceks said this legislation proposal has come in a timely manner as prom, graduation and summer quickly approach. Ray said this proposal has been classified as Ohio House Bill 674. She said a fourth-degree felony is punishable by 6 to 18 months in prison, up to a $5,000 fine and/or up to five years probation. "Hopefully, raising awareness will make us all more vigilant and dedicated to preventing further tragedies," Ray said. "As a former municipal court bailiff, I've seen this story play out many times where adults think that they are being safe by buying underage adults alcohol and taking the keys. This story proves that is not safe." Sharon Pacek said this legislation proposal has already been met with approval from other state officials. She said she and her husband received a handwritten letter from Gov. Mike DeWine in support of Ohio House Bill 674. In the midst of this tragedy, the Paceks have created a scholarship in Trevor's memory, which was awarded May 3. The scholarship will be awarded on an annual basis. "We asked the young people about their future plans as far as if they were going into the work force or going off to college or another trade school," Sharon Pacek said. "We also wanted to know, for the application process, what their views were on underage drinking, alcohol. We got a lot of interesting replies, but the tragedy with Trevor is where it all stemmed from because we wanted to pay things forward and make a difference for somebody else in his memory." Contact reporter Scott Kriska at (330)-721-4050 or skriska@medina-gazette.com.