Kiester pleads guilty to child porn charges

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

An out-of-state man currently locked up at the Van Wert County Correctional Facility for an October, 2024 crash that killed two Van Wert County men has changed his plea on a set of child pornography charges.

Timothy Kiester, 61, of Berrien Springs, Michigan, appeared in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday and changed his plea from not guilty to guilty three charges – pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person, a second degree felony; pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person, a fourth degree felony, and illegal use of minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance, a fifth degree felony. In exchange for the guilty plea, 12 remaining charges were dismissed.

Judge Martin D. Burchfield ordered a pre-sentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for 9 a.m. May 21. According to court documents, the maximum penalty is 10.5 years in prison plus four years indefinite, and a $22,500 fine. The prison sentence and fine are not mandatory. In addition to possible prison time and a fine, Kiester will be labeled as a Tier II sex offender, meaning he’ll be required to register his address every 180 days for 25 years.

Keister was originally charged with three counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person, second degree felonies; three other counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person, fourth degree felonies; three counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, second degree felonies; three separate counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, fourth degree felonies, and three counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material, fifth degree felonies.

The charges were handed down via a Van Wert County grand jury indictment last month. The material that led to the charges was found on Kiester’s cell phone, which being checked by Ohio State Highway Patrol investigators to see if he was texting while driving during an October 22, 2024 fatal crash on U.S. 127, near Hickory Sticks Golf Club in Van Wert. Investigators found no evidence of that, but came across the alleged images.

On October 21, 2024, Kiester was operating a 2016 Cheverolet Silverado that was hauling a camper and failed to maintain assured clear distance ahead. His truck struck the rear of a 2016 Ford Focus driven by Zachary J. Wood, 30, of Convoy. The impact forced Wood’s car into the path of a semi-truck. Wood and a passenger, Logan G. Elder, 29, of Van Wert, were pronounced dead at the scene.

In January of this year, Kiester pleaded no contest to two counts of vehicular manslaughter, both second degree misdemeanors. In late February, he was sentenced by Van Wert Municipal Court Judge Jill T. Worthington to 90 days in the Van Wert County Correctional Facility on each count, but the sentences were ordered to run concurrently.  In addition, his driver’s license was suspended for two years, retroactive to January 14, the date when Kiester entered his plea. He was also fined $750 on each of the two counts of vehicular manslaughter and was fined an additional $150 on a single count of assured clear distance.