Pendleton, Abbott spar over qualifications

FINDLAY — Sean Abbott and Heather Pendleton, vying to become the next Hancock County prosecutor, touted their experience and qualifications at a Republican-sponsored forum Friday. With no Democrats seeking the office it appears the one who gets the Republican nomination on March 19 will succeed Phillip Riegle, who is running for Hancock County judge. Pendleton said since becoming a Hancock County assistant prosecutor seven years ago she has completed dozens of trials and countless hearings. She has been practicing law in Hancock County for 17 years. "I have gotten big convictions in big cases. I have sent a lot of bad guys to prison," she said. "I have held hands with victims who were shaking and afraid because they had to testify in front of their own abuser. I have looked evil in the face and I have not flinched." Abbott has been practicing law for 10 years. Currently practicing in Findlay, he formerly served as chief assistant prosecutor in Fayette County from 2016 to 2021. During that time he was the lead or co-counsel in 18 jury trials, he said. "As lead counsel I secured convictions for aggravated robbery, rape, aggravated burglary. We have convicted aggravated murderers, we have convicted rapists. We were tough on crime," Abbott said. Abbott postured himself as more experienced and qualified than Pendleton. "We were workhorses. We averaged 345 indictments a year when I was there. Fayette County" — population 29,000 — "is 2½ times smaller than Hancock County. If you take those numbers and apply them to Hancock County, we would be averaging 850-plus indictments here," he said. "Now I'm not saying we're going to be indicting that many because you don't measure justice by quantity, but we were tough and we maintained and sustained that excellence because we had strong relationships with our law enforcement officers." Not to be outdone, Pendleton, responding to an audience member's question about the candidates' experience, cited her own numbers. "I've done 63 bench trials in my career at the Hancock County Prosecutor's Office. In addition to that, three jury trials, 11 invocations with sworn testimony, four probation violations with sworn testimony, one civil commitment with sworn testimony for a total of 82 trials with sworn testimony," she said. "I've also done a total of 1,234 adjudications."