MAUMEE, Ohio — A Defiance man is facing nine felony charges after he was indicted by a Lucas County Grand Jury Thursday on accusations that he pandered and illegally used sexually-oriented material involving minors and met with a minor female in a Maumee parking lot.
Dominick Pickles, 24, was charged with one count of pandering sexually-oriented material involving a minor, a fourth-degree felony; and eight counts of illegal use of a minor in a nudity-oriented material or performance, a fifth-degree felony.
According to a police report, Maumee police officers were patrolling the parking lot of a Maumee church parking lot on Aug. 16 at approximately midnight "due to recent issues [they] have had in the area."
Police approached a suspicious vehicle on foot in the parking lot and made contact with Pickles, who was in the driver's seat. The officer said in a report he recognized the passenger as a minor female with whom he was familiar from past calls.
Police questioned Pickles, who provided multiple different explanations for why he was in the parking lot and why the girl was with him. Eventually, police said Pickles told them he sent nude photos to the victim through Snapchat. According to the report, Pickles also said he solicited nude photos from the victim, whom he said he knew was 13 years old at the time of the interaction.
Additionally, Pickles told police he deleted the Snapchat app when he saw police arrive at the parking lot. He claimed he did not think the victim in the car was the same person with whom he had been communicating on Snapchat. Police allowed Pickles to redownload Snapchat, after which they observed several nude photos of who appeared to be the victim saved in the Snapchat chat feature.
Pickles was arrested and transported to the Maumee Police Department. Following an interview and other proceedings, Pickles was booked into the Lucas County Jail.
A preliminary trial was held on Sept. 20 and the report was also submitted to Lucas County Children Services.
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