(7-15-26) Two men were booked in Mercer County.

Philip Bowman (61) of Union City Ohio was booked my the Celina Police Department on a 5th degree felony of importuning.

When is Importuning Charged in Ohio?

Under Ohio Revised Code 2907.07, someone can be charged with importuning if they engage in the following conduct:

– Soliciting someone who is under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity;

– Soliciting someone between the ages of 13 and 15 to engage in sexual activity when the offender is 18 years of age or older and at least four years older than the victim;

– Soliciting someone between the ages of 16 and 17 to engage in sexual contact, when the offender is 18 years of age or older and at least four years older than the victim; and,

– Soliciting someone under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity when the victim is substantially impaired because of a mental or physical condition.

Someone can also be charged with importuning for soliciting sex from a law enforcement officer posing as a minor under the age of 13, or when an officer is posing as a minor between the ages of 13 and 15 and the offender is at least four years older than the age the officer is purporting to be.

Timothy Bradley (42) was booked by the Coldwater Police on a 1st degree misdemeanor of domestic violence, 4th degree misdemeanor of menacing and a 1st degree misdemeanor of assault.

A presumption of innocence means that any defendant in a criminal trial is assumed to be innocent until they have been proven guilty. As such, a prosecutor is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person committed the crime if that person is to be convicted. To do so, proof must be shown for every single element of a crime.