Jury convicts Hillsboro man of 4 counts of violating a protection order

A Hillsboro man was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison after a jury seated in Highland County Common Pleas Court found him guilty of four counts of violating a protection order.

As previously reported, Allen Shoemaker, 67, of Hillsboro was indicted by a Highland County grand jury in August and charged with four counts of violating a protection order or consent agreement, all fifth-degree felonies. Each count is for a separate alleged incident as far back as September 2024 and as recently as June 2025.

Following a brief trial Tuesday, Highland County Clerk of Courts Ike Hodson read the verdicts finding Shoemaker guilty of all counts, with each count including an additional finding that Shoemaker was previously convicted of violating a protection order or consent agreement.

After the jury was dismissed, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss said he would proceed with sentencing. Shoemaker and the victim both declined to speak, but Highland County Assistant Prosecutor Baylee Willey asked Coss to impose “four consecutive sentences.” 

Coss did so after addressing the defendant, telling Shoemaker the saying “‘you’re a slow learner’ … applies here.

“This has been going on since 2019, and you've been in prison and in trouble because of two things: pen and paper,” Coss said. “You’re the only person I know that seems determined to stay in prison because you've been convicted over and over again.”

Coss read a list of Shoemaker’s four previous convictions, adding “all of these because you’re writing and sending stuff” to the victim.

“There's just no reason for that,” Coss said. “You have no reason to communicate with her.

“You want to try to stay in her mind. I understand that you have deeply founded religious beliefs, but you know, that's no excuse for violating the law.”

Coss continued that “that’s there no reason at all, except you want to continue to harass this woman and to keep her upset.”

“It’s not harassment,” Shoemaker said.

“Well, you continue to do it,” Coss said. “There's no other reason. You have no legitimate reason.” 

“The Bible tells me I should,” Shoemaker said. 

“The Bible doesn’t,” Coss said. “God doesn't tell you to violate the law and harass [the victim], and you have no right to do that, and there's no doubt in my mind that the only thing that's going to stop you is death. 

“You continue to write letters, and you probably continue to do so because you can't stop yourself or you won't stop yourself, so the only thing I can do to protect her is to make sure that you stay in custody as long as possible for these violations. Your continued activity in committing these crimes justifies the maximum sentence, if there was ever a justification for it.”

Coss sentenced Shoemaker to the maximum term of 12 months on each count, for a total of four years in prison, with 84 days of jail time credit. 

“These four convictions that brings your total to eight convictions, for violating a protection order, plus a felony B&E [breaking and entering], plus a felony menacing by stalking, plus a failure to appear,” Coss said. “Your criminal history demonstrates that it's necessary to impose a consecutive sentence to protect the public, and in particular, your victim.

“The harm is so great, because again, this woman just wants to live in peace, and you won't let her. You won't let her. No matter what you believe under your view of God's word, does that justify harming her and ruining her, continuing to harass her? No.

“Your harm has been going on against this woman now since at least 2019, if not before, because whatever resulted in the protection order in 2019 would have required events that were not part of this case, so clearly, the harm you're causing to her is so great that one single prison term is not adequate.”

The trial began Tuesday morning and was done by mid-afternoon, including a lunch break and deliberations.

In his opening statement to the jury, Willey explained that the charges involved four separate alleged violations through “four separate letters” sent to the victim. Willey said the victim has a civil protection order, or CPO, that “would prohibit the defendant from having contact with her or her residence,” including through mail correspondence. 

Shoemaker, who chose to represent himself in court, told the jury he had “witnesses” that would “prove it did not happen that way.”

The victim was the first witness called by Willey. She testified that she initially filed the CPO against Shoemaker because she “was receiving mail that had what could be seen as threatening content.” Willey presented several exhibits, including a copy of the CPO and copies of each letter, which were reviewed by the victim.

The first envelope, with a post office date stamp of Sept. 17, 2024, was addressed to the victim’s children, whom the victim said do not live at that address. She testified it was written in Shoemaker’s handwriting and had his name in the return address box. The letter also referenced the name of another individual, “Grace,” whom the victim said she does not know, but whom Shoemaker has mentioned in other letters. 

The second envelope was dated Sept. 30, 2024, again addressed to the victim’s children with Shoemaker’s name and handwriting, and also speaking about “Grace.”

The third envelope was dated May 1, 2025, this time sent to a vacant address nearby, addressed to the victim’s last name. The victim testified that there was “a list of names” in the letter that included the names of people the victim works with. 

The fourth and final envelope arrived at the victim’s address, dated June 18, 2025 but addressed again to the vacant property and to the victim’s last name. The victim testified that Shoemaker wrote about the victim’s doctor and about Shoemaker’s business in this letter.

Under cross examination, Shoemaker asked if the victim opened the letters addressed to her children. She testified that she gave the letters to the children, who then left them at her home. 

The second witness was Deputy Phil Porter of the Highland County Sheriff’s Office, who testified that he took the report from the victim. He also reviewed the exhibits with the copies of the letter, confirming that he saw the documents when the victim filed complaints against Shoemaker for each alleged incident.

During his testimony, Porter said that the vacant address that received two of the letters is “100 yards to 200 yards” from the victim’s home. He also confirmed that in the CPO, it states that Shoemaker “shall not initiate or have any contact with protected persons named in this order, or their residences, business, places of employment, school, daycare centers or child care providers,” including phone, written or digital communication.

“It says Allen Shoemaker shall have absolutely — and it's emphatic here — no contact with [the victim], even by mail,” Porter said.

After Porter’s testimony, Shoemaker called his two witnesses. The first, Michael Johnson Sr., was a former cellmate of Shoemaker when he served his previous prison term for a conviction of violating a protection order. Johnson testified that he saw Shoemaker writing letters “to the people from the church” and to one of the victim’s children.

Johnson further testified that Shoemaker was “called to the red line,” meaning that he had to talk to the warden, because Shoemaker “wrote a letter to somebody and they told you you couldn’t write to them no more.” Johnson also said that Shoemaker used the “free mail” envelopes and never saw Shoemaker purchase one from the prison commissary.

Under cross examination, Willey asked Johnson about his own felony convictions. Johnson said “it was domestic violence when it first started,” but he was convicted of menacing by stalking, although he said “they made that up” because there “was no stalking.”

Shoemaker’s second witness was his brother, but much of his testimony was stricken due to lack of relevance.

Willey then called Porter back to the stand as a rebuttal witness. Upon reviewing the unredacted, original version of three of the envelopes, Porter read the return address as being from Lake Erie Correctional Institute. Two envelopes were marked as “free mail,” but the other was not, Porter said. 

The jury then received their first round of instructions before breaking for lunch, then they heard closing arguments.

Willey summarized the case in his first closing argument, pointing out that “despite being aware of the order and knowing that he was violating the order, this defendant penned four letters and mailed them to [the victim] all the way up until the day before the protection order was set to expire.

“These are very simple, straightforward, irrefutable facts in this case,” Willey said. “This defendant violated the terms and conditions of the protection order on September 17, 2024; September 30, 2024; May 1, 2025; and June 18, 2025. This is a felony, because this defendant has previously been convicted of this crime. As such, I'm asking that you find this defendant guilty.”

Shoemaker argued that he was “not in Highland County” on the dates any of the letters were issued and that the victim’s name “was never mentioned” in the letters.

In his second closing argument, Willey outlined all of the elements of the case “and the specific evidence and testimony that was presented that proved each element beyond a reasonable doubt.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this case is not difficult,” Willey told the jury. “The facts are not complicated. The testimony is straightforward. The exhibits prove each element of the crimes. This defendant was served with a copy of the protection order, and despite that, he mailed four letters to [the victim]. This is a direct violation of the same protection order he was served with. He's previously been convicted of the same exact crime, which elevates it to a felony. 

“Don't try to make this case difficult. It really is that easy, and simply put, the only verdict that makes sense is guilty.”

After the jury received their final instructions from Coss, they were dismissed to deliberate. It took them only a little over an hour to reach a guilty verdict on all four counts. 

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