Operation Rebirth Administrator in St. Paris, Ohio, Charged in Alleged Choking of 13-Year-Old Student

Emilio Valdez, an administrator at Operation Rebirth, a Christian boarding school for boys on a 17-acre farm two miles northwest of St. Paris, Ohio, has been charged with strangulation and endangering children, both third-degree felonies, according to Champaign County Court of Common Pleas records. Valdez pleaded not guilty to both counts in Champaign County Common Pleas Court on a Wednesday in March 2025. The school has operated for 40 years.

According to court records, the student involved was 13 years old at the time of the incident, which took place on Feb. 26, 2025. Champaign County Sheriff’s Office Captain Mike Young said the incident began after students arrived late to school. Young said Valdez grabbed the student by the back of the neck and under the chin, strangling him and taking him to the ground. A 90-second video reviewed in reporting shows Valdez with his hands around the student’s neck while other students and a teacher watched. The house parents also saw the incident.

Operation Rebirth Director David Babcock said the board learned of the incident and placed Valdez on administrative leave on March 3. Valdez was barred from campus, and the school notified authorities. Babcock’s account and the sheriff’s account both describe the board’s response as beginning after the matter came to light. Valdez’s employment was formally terminated effective March 31, 2025, following an internal review and consultation with legal counsel.

Coverage differs on how the matter was described. The News-Sun report characterized the case as a staffer charged with choking a student, while the WHIO report described an administrator who is accused of choking a student. Both reports refer to the same charges, which are allegations that have not been proven in court. The reports also differ in their descriptions of the school: one calls it a boarding school, and the other identifies it as Operation Rebirth, Inc., a Boys Christian Boarding Academy in Saint Paris.

The case also involves family ties at the school. Shelly Valdez, a teacher who resigned, is the wife of the man now charged. She is the daughter of Sam Ronicker, the school’s former executive director. Reporting does not state whether Shelly Valdez’s resignation was connected to the incident.

Champaign County Sheriff Chad Burroughs referred the News-Sun to a captain for further details, and that captain had not returned a request for more information at the time of reporting. Operation Rebirth, Inc. declined public comment on the ongoing legal proceedings.