Ex-Scout leader guilty of sex crimes
Wyandot Co. man assaulted 2 boys
8/23/2013UPPER SANDUSKY, Ohio — A former Boy Scout leader has been convicted in Wyandot County Common Pleas Court of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy during a Scout camp and raping another 12-year-old boy.
David E. Reed, 67, of Sycamore, Ohio, was found guilty of two counts of rape and one count of gross sexual imposition after a one-day jury trial on Wednesday.
Reed was indicted by a grand jury in January after an investigation by the sheriff's office and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, said Doug Rowland, an assistant county prosecutor.
The convictions were for the sexual assault of a boy, now 15, in July, 2009, and the sexual assault of a boy, now 14, in June, 2011; and another incident involving that same victim two months later when he was raped.
Mr. Rowland said the June incident involving the younger victim occurred at a summer camp in the county near Sycamore where both Reed and the victim were working.
The 15-year-old was not a scout. Both victims were 12 years old when the assaults happened.
Reed had been a volunteer leader with Troop 138 in Sycamore, of the Heart of Ohio Council, for 12 years until August, 2012, when allegations involving child sexual abuse surfaced and his membership with the group was revoked, said Brad Bodoh, the council’s executive.
Mr. Bodoh said information about Reed and the allegations were sent to the Boy Scouts of America’s headquarters, putting him on the organization’s ineligible volunteer list.
“We take these types of allegations very seriously,” he said. “His membership in the Scouts was revoked immediately upon the sheriff’s office contacting us to tell us that allegations [of sexual abuse] had been made.”
A date for Reed to be sentenced by Judge Kathleen Aubrey has not been scheduled. Sentences of 25 years to life could be imposed for each of the rape convictions, and five years could be imposed for gross sexual imposition.
Sycamore is about 80 miles southeast of Toledo.
Contact Mark Reiter at: markreiter@theblade.com or 419-724-6199.