Prison inmate gets 5 years on sex count

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

A man currently serving a prison sentence in Lima will spend five additional years in prison following a hearing held Thursday in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court.

Bobby Panning, 40, who is currently serving time in the Lima Correctional Institution on an unrelated rape conviction from Paulding County, was sentenced to 60 months in prison on a charge that stems from an offense allegedly committed 11 years ago.

Judge Charles D. Steele ordered that the new prison term be served consecutively to the sentence he is currently serving, which could keep him imprisoned for another 14 years.

As a result of a plea negotiation, Panning, who has continued to maintain his innocence in this case, agreed to plead guilty to a charge of sexual battery, a third-degree felony offense. In exchange for his guilty plea, a charge of rape was dismissed and the original sexual battery charge, a second-degree felony, was downgraded to a felony of the third degree.

In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Steele also designated Panning as a Tier 3 sex offender, which means he must register with the sheriff of the county in which he works and/or lives for the rest of his life.

Panning was charged with sexually assaulting a then-8-year-old boy who was apparently a family member.

Van Wert County Sheriff Tom Riggenbach said earlier that new information brought forth by the victim in the case, who is now 18 years old, helped county detectives obtain an indictment against Panning, who has been in prison since 2004 on the rape charge.