BUCYRUS—Aaron Patterson, 40, of Galion currently being held on a two million dollar bond appeared in Crawford County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday for a scheduled pretrial.
Patterson was arrested at his residence during a search conducted by the Crawford County Sherriff’s Department. Patterson was charged with two counts of rape, each first degree felonies and each punishable with up to 15 years to life in prison and one count of sexual battery, a felony of the third degree punishable with up to 36 months in prison.
Patterson allegedly had sex with a 14-year-old juvenile on at least two occasions. The sexual battery charge stems from the fact that he authority over his victim.
Patterson appeared in court with his attorney, Jerry Thompson. Thompson explained to the court that the discovery material was lost in the mail for 23 days and that he needed an extension to review the discovery before preparing a strategy.
Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold authorized an additional pretrial to be scheduled along with a three day trial in April. Patterson remains in custody.
Dusten Hunt, 34, of Bucyrus appeared in court to answer two additional charges. Hunt had been free on a personal recognizance bond after being charged with possession of fentanyl, a fifth-degree felony punishable with up to 12 months in prison.
According to allegations, Hunt was taken to the hospital as a result of a suspected drug overdose. Hospital personnel heard a loud banging and discovered Hunt trying to break a window to escape potential arrest. He is charged with escape, a fifth-degree felony punishable with up to 12 months in prison. He is also charged with harassment of an inmate also a fifth-degree felony punishable with up to 12 months in prison.
Judge Leuthold noted that all the charges came from the same incident. He also noted that Hunt had been employed full time.
“I am going to give you one more chance. But my biggest fear is that I’ll look at the news one day and see that you died from an overdose. No one wants that to happen.” Leuthold said.
In an effort to make sure that did not happen, Leuthold ordered Hunt to remain on bond so that he could work. He also ordered Hunt to report daily to probation officer Chris Heydinger for drug testing.