Panning re-sentenced on sex charge

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

A man serving an unrelated prison term for rape was resentenced in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court on sex-related charges.

Bobby Panning, 40, who is currently an inmate in the Allen Correctional Institution, was resentenced to 60 months in prison on a charge of sexual battery, a felony of the third degree. Judge Charles D. Steele also ordered the sentence be served consecutively to his current prison term, which was handed down in Paulding County on a rape conviction.

Panning was also classified as a sexual predator, based on a similar classification handed down in the Paulding County case.

Panning’s sentencing had been overturned in May by the Ohio Third District Court of Appeals, which noted that an improper Ohio Revised Code section had been cited in giving Panning a sentence consecutive to the one handed down in Paulding County.

The appellate court also ruled that Panning was improperly designated a Tier III sexual offender.

Prior to his sentencing, Panning read an angry tirade over the sentencing errors and also again said he was innocent of the crime of which he was accused.

Noting that he is now classified as “a monster” and a “rapist,” Panning said he was neither of those, since he did not rape his son, as charged, but even has a relationship with his son at this time.

Judge Steele listened to Panning, but then reinstituted the sentence previously handed down.

Three other people were sentenced on Wednesday. They include:

Dantonio Wilson, 24 of Fort Wayne, Indiana, who was sentenced to six years in prison on a charge of burglary, a second-degree felony. Judge Steele also gave him credit for 32 days already served.

Richard Schneider, 28, of Fort Jennings, was given three years of community control, to include up to six months in the Western Ohio Regional Treatment and Habilitation (WORTH) Center in Lima, on a charge of breaking and entering, a felony of the fifth degree.

Donna Cole, 45, of Wren, was given a year of community control on a charge of obstructing official business, a misdemeanor of the second degree.

Also Wednesday, Adam Hector, 26, of Ottawa, entered a plea of guilty to a prosecutor’s bill of information charging him with breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony, and criminal damaging, a misdemeanor of the second degree. Similar charges were dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea. A presentence investigation was ordered and sentencing scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, October 1.

Two cases were also heard on Tuesday in Common Pleas Court.

Michael Whisman, 23, of Van Wert, changed his plea to guilty to a charge of complicity to burglary, a second-degree felony offense. A presentence investigation was ordered and sentencing set for 9 a.m. Wednesday, September 10.

Ruby Hollingsworth, 55, of Van Wert, admitted to violating her personal surety bond by failing to report to the probation department after her arraignment. Judge Steele resentenced her to a surety bond after reminding her of her obligations under the bond.