WARNING EXPLICIT CONTENT
BUCYRUS, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW)—David Shepherd, a Bucyrus resident, appeared in Crawford County Municipal Court before Judge Shane Leuthold.
Shepherd is facing two counts of rape involving two victims, ages eight and nine.
The alleged abuse started in December 2022 when Shepherd and the children lived with the children’s maternal grandmother in Mansfield but escalated when they moved to Bucyrus and he was alone with them. He is unemployed.
The mother of the children, who is currently in prison, informed the Bucyrus Police Department that Shepherd had admitted to sexually abusing the children via computer text.
The children’s mother called Shepherd on a recorded prison line from the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville. Prison officials confirmed the recorded confessions. Prosecutors have subpoenaed those calls from the prison.
Based on this information, the police obtained a search warrant for Shepherd’s home on South Sandusky Street. When they entered the home after using a battering ram when he would not answer the door, Shepherd was coming up the basement stairs. He was read his Miranda rights and was taken to the kitchen for questioning. He confessed to sexually abusing both children, including digital and oral penetration. He admitted attempted vaginal and anal penetration on the nine-year-old.
Shepherd admitted to sexual contact with the nine-year-old approximately 30 times and with the eight-year-old at least five times.
Despite his bond attorney’s advice not to speak, Shepherd claimed in court that he did not hurt the children and did not force them to do anything.
The state requested a one million dollar cash bond, but Judge Leuthold set the bond at five million dollars cash, considering Shepherd’s detailed confession and the potential life sentence(without parole) he could face if convicted.
Before setting bond, Leuthold put the following on the record:
“Mr. Shepard has confessed in detail to these crimes. He was standing in the shoes of a parent, so Mr. Shepherd was placed in a position of trust to take care of two children of a tender years ages, eight and nine.
It would appear from his own admissions that he used that position for his own sexual deviance.
He has victimized these children in a way that I am not sure moving forward how they are going to respond.” Leuthold said.
The court-appointed attorney, Tom Nicholson, will represent Shepherd.
Leuthold ordered a preliminary hearing be set.
The assistant prosecutor expects additional rape charges to be filed after the grand jury meets next week. The investigation is ongoing. Crawford County Now will continue to provide updates on this story.