{"id":207036,"date":"2026-06-17T20:41:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T01:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=207036"},"modified":"2026-06-17T20:41:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T01:41:35","slug":"ohio-city-sex-offender-gets-prison-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/06\/17\/ohio-city-sex-offender-gets-prison-term\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio City sex offender gets prison term"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Ohio City man convicted of sexual battery learned his fate during a hearing held in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seth Marbaugh, 34, was sentenced by Judge Martin D. Burchfield to 36 months in prison and was ordered to pay court costs. Once freed, he’ll be subject to five years of post-release control and will be classified as a Tier III sex offender, the highest classification in Ohio. He’ll be required to register his address with authorities every 90 days for the rest of his life and he’ll face mandatory community notification. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Seth Marbaugh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

During a hearing held in late April, Marbaugh changed his plea from not guilty to guilty to the third degree felony charge. Prior to the plea change, Marbaugh was charged with four counts of rape, all first degree felonies; three counts of sexual battery, third degree felonies, and three counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, third degree felonies. He was also facing a charge of tampering with evidence and was scheduled to stand trial last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Court records show the alleged crimes occurred between May of 2023 and October of 2024, and the alleged victim was between 13-16 years of age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a separate and unrelated case, Derek Eland, 34, of Van Wert, was sentenced to up to six months at the WORTH Center, three years of community control and 30 days in jail at a later date for domestic violence, a fourth degree felony, and endangering children, a first degree misdemeanor. He was also ordered to perform 50 hours of community service, seek and maintain employment, undergo substance abuse assessment and treatment, and was ordered to pay court costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nine other hearings were held this week, with Judge Burchfield presiding over all of the hearings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arraignments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corey Salisbury, 44, of Rockford, entered a not guilty plea to violating a protection order, a fifth degree felony. Bond was set at $25,000 cash or surety. A pre-trial conference will be set at a later date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Michael Rochester, 43, of Defiance, entered a not guilty plea to aggravated possession of drugs, a second degree felony, and possession of a fentanyl-related compound, a fifth degree felony. He was released on a surety bond along with electronic house arrest and a pre-trial conference was scheduled for 9 a.m. July 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charmin Justin, 58, of Van Wert, pleaded not guilty to theft, a fifth degree felony. He was released on a surety bond and was ordered to have no contact with the victim. A pre-trial conference was scheduled for 8 a.m. July 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gavin McMichael, 21, of Van Wert, pleaded not guilty to one count each of theft and misuse of credit cards, fifth degree felonies. He was released on a surety bond and was ordered to have no contact with the victim. A pre-trial conference was set for 8 a.m. July 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tyler Pessefall, 28, of Van Wert, entered a not guilty plea to strangulation, a fifth degree felony, and assault, a first degree misdemeanor. He was released on a surety bond and was ordered to have no contact with victim. A pre-trial conference was set for 8 a.m. July 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plea changes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

William Ladd, Jr., 51, of Van Wert, changed his plea to guilty to sexual battery, a second degree felony. Judge Burchfield ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set sentencing for 9 a.m. July 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Burgoon, 44, of Van Wert, changed his plea to guilty to four counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person, fourth degree felonies. A pre-sentence investigation was ordered and sentencing was scheduled for 9 a.m. July 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Snavely, 60, of Van Wert, was found competent to stand trial after an evaluation at Court Diagnostic in Toledo. He then changed his plea to guilty to two counts of aggravated possession of drugs, both fifth degree felonies. Judge Burchfield ordered a pre-sentence report and set sentencing for 9 a.m. July 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bond violation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dylan Slagle, 22, of Van Wert, admitted to violating his bond by purchasing alcohol. His surety bond was continued with electronic house arrest, a curfew, and no contact order. A pre-trial conference will be held at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor An Ohio City man convicted of sexual battery learned his fate during a hearing held in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court this week. Seth Marbaugh, 34, was sentenced by Judge Martin D. Burchfield to 36 months in prison and was ordered to pay court costs. Once freed, he’ll be subject to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-25 10:20:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207036"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207048,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207036\/revisions\/207048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}