Police say landlord whipped tenant over late rent
WAYNESVILLE, Ohio (AP) - An Ohio landlord is accused of whipping a tenant with a belt on his bare buttocks for falling behind on his rent.
Ron Kronenberger, 53, was charged with assault for the Jan. 22 encounter in his office, police in the village of Waynesville said. He was due in court Thursday in Warren County.
Police said the tenant, 29, was late with a $2,800 rent payment.
"If you're going to act like a child, I'm going to treat you like one," Kronenberger was quoted in the police report as telling the tenant before striking him four times with a belt. The report said the belt left "little marks."
Waynesville Police Chief Gary Copeland talked to the accuser, who reportedly told him he submitted to the whipping because "he was scared and just wanted to get it over with," according to the police report.
The Dayton Daily News reported that Kronenberger is a former chamber of commerce president who was Waynesville's "Citizen of the Year" for 2006. His home phone wasn't accepting messages Thursday.
Ron Kronenberger, 53, was charged with assault for the Jan. 22 encounter in his office, police in the village of Waynesville said. He was due in court Thursday in Warren County.
Police said the tenant, 29, was late with a $2,800 rent payment.
"If you're going to act like a child, I'm going to treat you like one," Kronenberger was quoted in the police report as telling the tenant before striking him four times with a belt. The report said the belt left "little marks."
Waynesville Police Chief Gary Copeland talked to the accuser, who reportedly told him he submitted to the whipping because "he was scared and just wanted to get it over with," according to the police report.
The Dayton Daily News reported that Kronenberger is a former chamber of commerce president who was Waynesville's "Citizen of the Year" for 2006. His home phone wasn't accepting messages Thursday.
"Waynesville Police Chief Gary Copeland talked to the accuser, who reportedly told him he submitted to the whipping because "he was scared and just wanted to get it over with," according to the police report."
 That reads to me like it was consensual.  I still want to know if the four strokes constituted payment in full or only just the late penalty.
When I first read the headline I thought the tenant was trussed up and flogged with a cat o' nine tails or maybe took several strokes from a bullwhip or something. Not to make too much levity out of it but from my experiences as a kid four strokes from a belt is fairly minor.
Check out Shane Macgowan's (Pogues) "Boys from County Hell" lyrics and see what happened to the landlord who was pretty mean.  not so nice.Â
I read the report in the link there - sounds like the whipee was in the guys' office when this happened. There's got to be something going on between those two dudes - not sure what exactly but I don't know of any grown man or even some kids who would let somebody do this to them. It doesn't sound like apartment or house rent either from that story - maybe an office rental. Still doesn't make sense either way. I mean, the guy had to drop his pants, so isn't he partially responsible? Somebody tried that with me, he'd be wearing that belt around his neck and swinging from a tree or a pole. Sheesh...Â
sheeple? The tenant's union in Seattle would have fit over this - except perhaps in Fremont or Capital hill. - they may ask for more
@contraryjim Laughed out loud again.
I think there's something missing from this story... I'm 30 and I wouldn't allow another person to whip me with a belt or anything. I'm going down fighting! Take me to court, I'm not letting you touch me. Yeah, something's definitely up.
I used to live in Ohio (in fact, I joined the military just to get out of there!) and I would not pay $2,800 to live there! And if it were a business property, I wouldn't pay that much, either. Ohio?! No thanks.Â
@CaliGirl@Heart May have been back rent as well.
@Melissa Angevine @CaliGirl@Heart LOL!
He dropped trow to be whipped because he was scared? Get it over with? A 29 yr old even considered this to be acceptable?  pfft, snort, uh huh, ok.
So, was the four stroke from a belt in lieu of the total rent payment or was it just the late charges?
You should be whipped just for agreeing to pay 2800-bucks a month to live in Ohio!!
@thatsjarrod2 I laughed out load but I agree.
@Furd @thatsjarrod2 I am not sure I can ever respond to this post and maintain a level of "clean" that would not get me forever banned from this forum.
A $2800 rent payment in Ohio? What a ripoff
@bestcoast88Â The rent could be for a business space; since the story doesn't really say what type of property it is.Â
I think a few punches to the face would have been more appropriate and certainly deserving. The laws all protect the deadbeat tenant so sometimes landlords need to go outside the law.
@memory9 NEVER hit someone in the face as it leaves marks that will get the person sympathy from a jury.
I wonder if he pays his rent on time now?
Too funny, Judge Judy would love this one.
@Gunnartheviking I am sure the credit companies are taking note of the end results of this story...How effective was this "late fee"?
Wtf?
Sounds consensual to me. LOL I wonder how many people he whipped up on to receive 'Citizen of the Year'?
@d_2 I wonder if he's a closet dominant
I don't care who you are, as an adult I'm not going to sit there and let you hit me with your bare hands, much less a belt. You might win the fight but I'm not going to just sit there and take it. The older man should have been going to jail with a few more bruises on him.....I don't understand the mentality of someone who will just sit there and take whatever someone wants to do to you.
This is why there needs to be some oversight in society. This particular guy needs a lot more government in his life...and incarceration.
Methinks the landlord is a perv.
After thinking about this a bit, I just wanted to clarify...BDSM and kinky stuff? Â I have no problem with it - unless it takes advantage of someone under duress. Â THEN that's when I call the instigator a perv.
There is so much missing from this story... two grown men??? At 29, no one would be hitting my bare butt with a belt.. Let alone, the same sex... Something is missing from this story..
@Mr. HÂ I was thinking the exact same thing.
Wow a $2800 rent payment.
@mstipton No... a $2800 butt whoopin
So a grown man allows another grown man to pull his pants down and "whip" him 4 times on his arse? Sounds like more to the story than what we are getting?
@aintno1special Maybe the landlord forgave the rent for that month if the guy allowed him to be spanked bare-bottom?
Is this some NEW kind of stupid we've never heard about? If some idiot tried to "spank" me with a belt, he'd wake up in the hospital with his belt wrapped around his neck. Our society is truly becoming a comedy show.
You would let him wake up?
Wow. Poor choices. You don't get to use corporal punishment on other people just because you don't like their behavior or you think they deserve it.