A Bucyrus man was convicted of two felony charges by a jury of his peers in Crawford County Common Pleas Court on Friday. According to Crawford County Prosecutor Matthew Crall, a jury of twelve Crawford County residents convicted Jonathon W. Jones, 29, of one count of gross sexual imposition and one charge of tampering with evidence, both third-degree felonies.
He said Jones will be sentenced by Common Pleas Judge Sean Leuthold at a later date. Jones faces up to eight years in prison on the convictions. He was indicted by the grand jury on Oct. 8, 2024, of the two charges he was convicted of as well as one count of aggravated burglary. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on Oct. 10, 2024, and his bond was set at $200,000. “Once again, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Dan Stanley did a fantastic job as did Crawford County Sheriff's Office Detective Tyler Winkelman, Deputy Eric Thomas, and Deputy Jeremy McCracken. Our community (and our children) are a little safer with this conviction,” said Crall in a press release.
In another felony case, Bryan D. Deaton, 32, was arraigned on 12 sexual-related charges after his case was bound over to the grand jury. Deaton pleaded not guilty during his arraignment to four counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, and eight counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor, all second-degree felonies.
Deaton was arrested on April 7 at 9:20 a.m. when the Crawford County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant at Deaton’s Hill Street residence as part of an investigation into the possession of child pornography. Several electronic items were seized from the residence by law enforcement that allegedly contained child pornography. During Deaton’s initial hearing in Crawford County Municipal Court, his bond was set at $500,000 and that bond has been continued in Common Pleas Court.
In a Municipal Court case, David E. Williams III, 19, also of Bucyrus, was found guilty of misdemeanor aggravated menacing charges.
He was fined $818 with $250 suspended, sentenced to 180 days in jail with 90 suspended, and he is to have no contact with the victim for three years. He was also ordered to obtain his GED within 18 months of his release from jail. The charges stem from an incident on social media in which Williams was sending threatening messages to a juvenile.
