Two Men Indicted For Raping Children
The Scioto County Grand Jury indicted two men on multiple counts of rape involving children during their last session.
The grand jury handed down an indictment against John William Smith III, of Lucasville for three counts of rape.
Back in November, the Scioto County Special Victims Unit nabbed Smith after Scioto County Children Services contacted his office on Tuesday, November 1, 2022, to inform them that a child had been sexually assaulted. Detectives determined the victim and just 8 years old when the assaults occurred.
Michael Leland Nether of Philo, Ohio was indicted on two counts of rape as well as unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.
Back in October, the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office was alerted that an adult had exchanged inappropriate images with a 12-year-old. An area hospital notified the Sheriff’s Office that the child had been taken there for treatment.
That’s when the Scioto County Special Victims Unit sprang into action to investigate.
According to the SCSO, the detective, working jointly with Scioto County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Crime Unit, was able to determine that the juvenile victim met the suspect through Facebook.
Investigators learned that Nethers sent the victim multiple naked photographs of himself as well as videos of himself doing sexual acts and traveled to Scioto County to have sexual contact with the child.