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PICKERING |
A previously convicted offender arrested last month following an investigation by officers of the Bellefontaine Police Department and the Adult Parole Authority into new sexually-oriented crimes is among 37 additional defendants indicted this week by a Logan County grand jury.
Wesley Pickering, 70, at large, has been indicted on a total of 41 counts of pandering sexually-oriented material involving a minor; and illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance, felonies of the fourth- and fifth-degree, respectively.
He was arrested Oct. 11 after APA officers found him to be in possession of a smart cell phone, which he is not permitted to have as a registered sex offender because of the device’s camera and Internet capability.
A search of the phone reportedly contained several graphic images of nude children, according to an arrest report.
A search of the offender’s vehicle revealed a black binder containing several more graphic juvenile images.
Pickering admitted at the time he maintained a storage unit near Indian Lake, and a law enforcement search of that storage unit turned up still more sexually-oriented material.
Additionally, authorities found coloring books, colored pencils, Pop Tarts and a deputy sheriff’s badge and name plate in the trunk of his car.
Prior to his arrest, the suspect had only been out of prison for about a year after having served a 15-year sentence for crimes including gross sexual imposition and child pornography-related charges from a 2001 offense.
Read complete GRAND JURY story in Friday’s Examiner.
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