I literally can’t make this kind of stuff up. License suspended, dragging his wife through a ridiculously protracted divorce (she was a client who he “engaged” with while representing her) who was still trying to divorce him after filing less than 10 months after the nuptials. That was over 3 years ago (when he assaulted her on 15 Aug 2020), and he was still stuck on her TriCare like an unwanted leech until the divorce finally happened 17 July of 2023. That the courts drag out a divorce for 3 years is good reason to start un-electing some of the folks on the Montgomery County bench.
His latest antics involve calling a former client, obviously drunk, and going on about how he missed his chance 4 years ago. Throw in graphic comments like “you had small boobs but a nice ass” and that he still had pictures of her 3 daughters. Talk about a way to creep a woman out.
When she was his client, he insisted on cash- and that she let him drive her to the bank to deposit it- but, instead he’d taken her to his home, where she rejected his advances. He’d told her that he wanted to “fuck her in the ass” and that if she came and worked for him, he’d buy her a Mercedes.
She answered his call last Thursday, August 3rd at 8:20 PM. She didn’t know why he’d be calling her, but he was telling her that he wasn’t recording the call- and asking her if she trusted him. He made claims that he was reviewing her case- and was surprised to find out she was still in the area. She cut him off before he asked her out telling him she’d met someone and just had another baby. That didn’t stop him.
But, he also talked about how he had a boat, and was tempted to go to the middle of the water and jump in and drown. None of this is good, and it’s obvious Mr. Hartley is in desperate need of a mental health intervention.
She called the courts to tell them about this call. She was shrugged off locally. As long as his license is suspended, they seem to think he’s not their problem. The Hartley survivors group has her info- and shared the number and email for the Ohio Supreme Court investigator. Hopefully, he’ll intervene to stop Hartley from continuing his inappropriate behavior- because we already know the local judges, starting with Ketterings Judge Long, absolved themselves of any responsibility to stop this obviously troubled individual from doing more harm.
Since I started covering this story [1] a few years ago, I’ve had someone reach out to me almost every other month with a new Hartley horror story. Not all have made it to the blog. But, the list of people who were wronged by him doesn’t reflect well on our local legal communities ability to self police their wayward ones. Hopefully, this post may make them reconsider, before someone ends up dead.
That prison smock neckline is not very flattering.
Good reporting.