BUCYRUS — A Bucyrus man was transported from prison back into Crawford County Common Pleas Court Wednesday to enter a plea on new charges.
Kyle Myers, currently incarcerated in the Lorain Correctional Institution, pleaded guilty to four counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material. Each count is a fifth-degree felony, and each is punishable with up to one year in prison.
Myers, 21, pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a fourth-degree felony punishable with up to 18 months in prison, in December 2018. He was sentenced to five years of community control.
Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold granted community control because he felt that Myers was emotionally immature and would not do well in prison. In April, Myers pleaded guilty to violating the terms and conditions of his community control and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
After inspection of Myers’ phone, new charges with the same victim were added. More facts in the case were revealed to Leuthold during Wednesday’s proceedings.
During routine exchange in the courtroom, defense attorney Tom Nicholson revealed that the victim, 13 years old at the time of the offense, had given birth to Myer’s child in February 2019.
Nicholson told the judge that everyone knew including police and that the situation was documented through police reports.
“With all due respect, I did not know!” Leuthold said.
The child was born in February 2019 and the sexual contact with the victim was in May 2018.
As part of his original sentence, Myers was told to have no contact with the victim in the case. Probation officer Eric Bohach found a series of photographs on Myers’ phone with the victim in sexually explicit positions.
Leuthold noted that the pictures, which included photos of Myers with the victim, were taken after the pregnancy.
“These are explicit close up photos that have his own face in them and it is clear that these pictures were taken either before or after engaging in sex with the victim,” Leuthold said. “The victim can be seen performing sexual acts.”
In a plea negotiation, Myers pleaded guilty to the five counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material. All other counts were dismissed. Myers will have to register as a Tier 1 sex offender with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department annually upon his release.
“The charges you could’ve been charged with are a fraction of what you could have been actually charged with in this case,” Leuthold said. “Since I placed you on community control, you have continued in a relationship with this victim, had a baby and continued to take photos. I gave you a break and you went back and did it again with reckless abandonment.”
Nicholson told the court before sentencing that his client’s behavior stemmed from a drug problem.
Leuthold sentenced Myers to the maximum prison sentence of one year in prison on each count for a total of four years in prison. As part of the plea agreement, no new charges will be leveled.
“There will be no new charges in this case and with this victim,” Leuthold said. “However, if another victim comes to the attention of this court, it’s a whole other kettle of fish.”
Leuthold ordered that the victim not be allowed to visit Myers in prison but that the custodial grandparents of the now 14-month-old child could make the decision whether Myers sees the child while in prison.
“The victim will be 18 by the time you are out of prison. That solves one problem, Leuthold said. “You have nearly ignored everything I have said. No one is going to have sex with an underage child in this county. Considering all you have done, you could do a lot more time, essentially one separate charge for every single photo. If you were 30, you’d be doing 20 years in prison.”