Kiester, Houser court hearings on tap

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

A pair of high profile hearings are on this week’s Van Wert County Common Pleas Court docket.

One of them is scheduled for Wednesday morning. That’s when Timothy Kiester, 61, of Berrien Springs, Michigan, will appear before Judge Martin D. Burchfield for sentencing on three child pornography 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.

During a hearing held last month, Kiester changed his plea from not guilty to guilty to the three charges. In exchange, 12 remaining charges were dismissed by the Van Wert County Proseuctor’s Office. Kiester is facing more than 10 years in prison and a $22,500 fine, however, prison time and the fine are not mandatory. He will be labeled as a Tier II sex offender, which requires twice a year registration.

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 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. He was later sentenced by Van Wert Municipal Court Judge Jill T. Worthington to 90 days in jail on each count, with the sentences were ordered to run concurrently. In addition, his driver’s license was suspended for two years. 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.

On Thursday, a hearing will be held for a Rockford man seeking to withdraw his no contest plea to a murder charge.

Ryan Houser, 39, was scheduled to be sentenced earlier this month to 15 years to life in prison for the shooting death of his girlfriend. However, at the hearing, Houser proclaimed his innocence and made a request to withdraw his plea. Defense attorney Kenneth Rexford told Judge Burchfield that he learned of Houser’s request just 15-20 minutes before the hearing was scheduled to begin and said there appears to a case on point, but added he wasn’t prepared to argue it on such short notice. Since then, Rexford has filed a nine-page legal brief, and Van Wert County Prosecutor Eva Yarger has filed paperwork seeking to overrule Houser’s request.

Houser changed his plea in early March from not guilty to no contest to a single count of murder, an unclassified felony. In exchange, three other charges – aggravated murder, an unclassified felony, possessing a weapon under disability, and tampering with evidence, both third degree felonies, were dismissed. After entering the plea, Judge Burchfield found Houser guilty of the charge and scheduled sentencing for May 7. After scheduling this Thursday’s hearing, the judge noted there will be no continuances.

The charges filed against him are tied to the September, 2023, shooting death of his girlfriend, Barbara Ganger of Van Wert. Her body was discovered on September 4, 2023, after the Van Wert Police Department was dispatched to do a welfare check at her residence at Van Wert West Apartments on W. Main St. Officers discovered she had been shot twice, once in the stomach area and once in the head.

Houser was originally scheduled to stand trial in April of 2024, but his case was delayed multiple times by two changes of legal counsel, a suppression hearing and a lengthy list of motions.