MANSFIELD — A Mansfield man initially charged with using the internet to seek sex with an 8-year-old girl has been indicted on 31 felony counts related to child pornography, according to Richland County Common Pleas Court records.
Bryce Witchey, 28, is scheduled to be arraigned Friday at 1 p.m. on all of the felony charges handed down by a Richland Count grand jury, appearing before Magistrate Jill Cochran.
Witchey, arrested by Mansfield police on an importuning charge in the early morning hours of June 14, remains in the Richland County Jail on a $500,000 bond, according to court records.
He also has no access to any electronic devices or the internet and is allowed no contact with females outside of immediate family and jail staff.
According to the indictments, 14 of the allegations against Witchey are second-degree felonies, one is a fourth-degree charge and 16 are fifth-degree allegations.
In the second-degree felonies, Witchey is charged under Ohio Revised Code 2907.323 for “illegal use of minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance.”
According to that law, “no person shall … photograph any minor or impaired person who is not the person’s child or ward in a state of nudity, or create, direct, produce, or transfer any material or performance that shows the minor or impaired person in a state of nudity” without the written consent of the individual’s parents, guardian or custodian.
The fourth-degree felony is for alleged importuning, which is the allegation for which Witchey was originally arrested. It’s found in Ohio Revised Code 2907.07: “No person shall solicit a person who is less than thirteen years of age to engage in sexual activity with the offender, whether or not the offender knows the age of such person.”
The fifth-degree felony charges are found in a different section of ORC 2907.323.
Under that law, it’s illegal to “possess or view any material or performance that shows a minor or impaired person who is not the person’s child or ward in a state of nudity, unless the person knows that the minor’s or impaired person’s parents, guardian, or custodian has consented in writing to the photographing or use of the minor or impaired person in a state of nudity and to the manner in which the material or performance is used or transferred.”
Under Ohio’s sentencing guidelines, someone convicted of an F-2 may receive between two and eight years in prison and up to a $15,000 fine. An F-4 conviction carries a sentence of between six and 18 months and up to a $5,000 fine. An F-5 can result in six months to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine.
Witchey is represented by defense attorney Rolf Whitney.
During Witchey’s initial arrest, according to Mansfield Police Department records and a 9-1-1 call, a woman told police a man was talking to her on social media and wanted to have sex with her daughter.
She said it was happening even as she called police, using an Instagram profile. The woman said she was recording the on-screen conversation, but didn’t know the suspect’s actual name.
According to the police report, officers went to the mother’s house and Witchey was identified during their investigation.
“Screenshot and screen recordings were collected (from the mother) via email. A (arrest) warrant was prepared and sent … for review,” the report said.
When officers went to arrest Witchey at his home on the city’s south side on Friday at 3:38 a.m., he was also charged with misdemeanor counts of obstructing official business and resisting arrest, according to the police report.
Officers said Witchey tried to back away “and attempted to pull his arms away.”
“(Witchey) was advised he was under arrest, but continued to resist officers. After a short struggle and (Witchey) going to the ground, he was placed under arrest,” the police report said.