State v. Wallace

In State v. Wallace, 160 Ohio App.3d 528, 2005 Ohio 1746, 828 N.E.2d 125, the Courtapplied R.C. 2901.13(D) to toll the statute of limitations for a crime that was a continuing course of conduct. Wallace had been found guilty of a single count of theft after she made an application for social security benefits for her minor son, even though she no longer had custody of him and he did not live with her when she submitted the application. Wallace collected social security checks from April 1993 to April 2002. On appeal from her conviction, Wallace argued that her application for social security benefits had been made more than six years before her indictment, so her prosecution was barred by the six-year statute of limitations. The Court rejected that argument, stating that: "The record supports a finding that Wallace engaged in a continuous course of deception by reporting that her son was still residing with her. Wallace also continued to deprive her son of his benefit distributions and take the money for her own use until April 2002. Accordingly, the Court found the statute of limitations did not commence until the theft ended in April 2002." Id. at P29.