By Krystal Smalley and Gary Ogle
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com; gogle@wbcowqel.com
A Galion man may have already pleaded guilty to compelling prostitution, a third-degree felony, and attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a fourth-degree felony, but the judge felt that the 53-year-old James Ernsberger may not be entirely repentant.
“I think to a certain degree that there’s an attitude that this was no big deal,” Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold stated, adding that Ernsberger hinted he was being railroaded.
Though a doctor found that Ernsberger was non-predatory in nature and unlikely to reoffend, Leuthold seemed to think that a message needed to be sent to the defendant.
“Do you want me to read them?” said Leuthold, referring to the text messages Ernsberger sent to an undercover police officer posing as a 15-year-old girl. “I can assure you, sir, that this would be most embarrassing for you and your family. If you spoke this way to an adult woman or otherwise, you’d be ashamed of yourself.”
Leuthold refrained from reading the messages out loud, but noted Ernsberger made it clear in the conversation that he would be paying for sex. According to the judge, even though the girl informed him twice that she was 15 years old, Ernsberger appeared to only care about the price.
“I do not look kindly on sex crimes in this community,” Leuthold said as he called Ernsberger’s behavior unacceptable. “Do not sit there and act like you didn’t do anything wrong.”
Ernsberger was sentenced to six months in the county jail and will be placed on community control for five years. He was also fined $1,000 and must register as a Tier II sex offender for the next 25 years.
If Ernsberger fails on community control, he could face up to 54 months in prison if sentenced to maximum, consecutive sentences.
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Fifty-eight-year-old Steven Shaull of Galion pleaded guilty to theft and drug possession, both fifth-degree felonies, and received a 90-day county jail sentence.
Shaull’s charges stemmed from an incident where he reached across the counter at WalMart and grabbed over $1,000 in cash from the register. When he was picked up later, he was found to be in possession of drugs.
In addition to his county jail sentence, Shaull was placed on community control for five years and must pay restitution to WalMart in an amount to be determined. Leuthold also leveled two fines against Shaull: $1,000 for the theft charge and the mandatory $1,250 on the drug charge.
Fifty-eight-year-old Timothy Moyer of Mansfield pleaded guilty to felony 5 drug possession and misdemeanor 4 possession of drug paraphernalia.
Moyer met the criteria of a first-time felony offender and was not prison eligible. He was sentenced to five years on community control and fined $1,250.
Forty-two-year-old Mark Scaggs appeared in court for an initial hearing for community control violations. Scaggs allegedly consumed alcohol, acted in a disorderly manner, and admitted to consuming alcoholic beverages. Attorney James Mayer III was appointed as his attorney and Scaggs’ bond was set at $100,000.
Scaggs originally pleaded guilty to felony 3 driving under the influence in 2015 and served five months on a three-year prison sentence.