Prison inmate pleads to sexual battery

Van Wert independent staff

A man already incarcerated in a Lima prison entered a guilty plea on Thursday during a hearing in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court.

Bobby Panning, 39, who is currently serving a prison term in the Allen Correctional Institution in Lima, pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual battery, a felony of the third degree. The guilty plea means that Panning’s trial, which was scheduled for this Monday, is now unnecessary.

Panning was originally charged with one count each of rape, a first-degree felony, and sexual battery, a felony of the second degree. The rape charge was dismissed and the sexual battery count downgraded to a third-degree felony in exchange for Panning’s guilty plea.

The case stems from 2002, when Panning was suspected of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old boy, but there wasn’t enough evidence at the time to charge Panning.

Sheriff Tom Riggenbach said earlier that new information from the victim, who is now 18, back in March helped county detectives obtain an indictment against Panning, who has been in prison since 2004 on an unrelated rape charge.

A presentence investigation was ordered in the case and sentencing scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, October 16.