Ott sentenced to 25 years

Former Cape High football coach Thomas Ott has been sentenced to 25 years in jail after he pleaded guilty to charges of second- and fourth-degree rape.

Delaware Superior Court Judge T. Henley Graves sentenced Ott to 25 years in prison, with 403 days already served. The judge ordered the sentence will be suspended after 17 years; Ott was also sentenced to serve one year of work release and seven years of Level 3 probation.

Graves ordered Ott is not permitted to have any contact with his children or to initiate contact with them; when his children turn 18, they are permitted to contact him. Before he is permitted to see them, he must prove to court officials that the children have initiated contact.

Ott, 40, was arrested April 8, 2010, in the Savannah Road home in Lewes he shared with his wife and family.  In March, Ott pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree rape and two counts of fourth-degree rape.

"This is a horrible tragedy to the family and to the community," said Graves at the June 10 sentencing, in front of about 30 people.  "You have denied, for the most part, doing much of it," he said to Ott.  "I am satisfied you did commit these offenses."

Ott was unshaven and noticeably thinner than in recent photos when he entered the courtroom, shortly after 9 a.m.  Hands in cuffs and ankles chained together, Ott waddled to the podium to stand before the judge, next to defense attorney Rob Robinson.

Ott spoke up after Graves handed down the sentence.  Part of the plea agreement, Ott said, was that he would be allowed contact with his children.  Ott said he would not have taken the deal otherwise.

"This is not the time or place," Graves said.

"When is the time or place?" Ott shot back.

"You can sit in prison and decide," Graves said.  "I'm not going to have this debate with you, sir."

Before Graves issued the sentence, he allowed two of Ott's siblings to speak on their brother's behalf.  Ott's older brother, Ray Ott, described Ott as someone who was loyal, hardworking and willing to put others before himself.  "His children were his pride and joy.  They were his world," Ray Ott said.  Both siblings asked for a minimal sentence for Ott.

Ott's wife, Tara Ott, was also allowed to speak before the sentence was issued.  Standing beside prosecutor David Hume, Tara Ott told Graves her husband had disgraced their family.  "A man that I loved and trusted had an evil, sick, dark side," she said.  "I want a message sent from this courtroom that childhood victims deserve justice."

In addition to jail time, Ott was ordered to pay $12,000 in restitution and will be registered as a tier 3 sex offender.

Last summer, a Sussex County grand jury returned an indictment listing 53 charges against him including four counts of second-degree rape of a victim younger than 16 years old, two counts of fourth-degree rape, one count of unlawful imprisonment and one count of continuous abuse of a child. The state dropped 50 counts after he agreed to guilty pleas.

Ott posted $177,500 secured bond and was released from Sussex Correctional Institution April 16, 2010. Three days later, in what police called an apparent suicide attempt, Ott jumped from the outside fire escape of a downtown Dover building. After treatment for severe facial, head and chest injuries at Christiana Hospital, he was incarcerated at James T. Vaughn Correctional Facility in Smyrna on $250,000 cash-only bail.

Ott was Cape Henlopen High School’s head football coach and a special education paraprofessional at the time of his arrest.