Indictments were returned in twelve cases on December 3 by a Knox County Grand Jury for various felony crimes. Arraignments are scheduled for December 14 at 9:00 a.m. in the Knox County Court of Common Pleas before Judge Otho Eyster.

According to Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher, two men are charged with failing to pay their child support. In 1996, William M. Prichard, Jr., 34, Proctorville, Ohio, was court-ordered to pay $271.00 per month for his 13 year old child. According to the indictment, Prichard failed to provide adequate support, in 2004 and 2005, when his child support payments allegedly totaled only $190.00. Thatcher said Prichard’s total child support arrearage, since 1996, exceeds $32,000.00. In 2006, Gene E. Turner, Jr., 39, Hagerstown, Indiana, was court-ordered to pay $458.00 per month for his 11 year old child. According to the indictment, Turner failed to provide adequate support for his child from August 2005 through August 2007. Thatcher said Turner’s total child support arrearage is more than $8,000.00.

Joshua A. Pruitt, 25, Chadwick Road, Gambier, is accused of possessing a stolen laptop computer. Thatcher said the computer was allegedly found during a search of Pruitt’s residence conducted by his Municipal Court Probation Officer Robert O’Hara and Detective Roger Brown of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, on September 6. The laptop was allegedly stolen from a business on Martinsburg Road, Mount Vernon.

Larry J. Butler, Jr., 19, New Castle Road, Gambier, and Dustin McDowell, 18, South Catherine Street, Mount Vernon, are charged with burglarizing the attached garage of a Pleasant Valley Road residence and stealing the 1995 GMC “Jimmy” parked inside in the early morning hours of June 15. Later the same day and as part of the same chain of events, Butler and McDowell allegedly broke into two concession buildings at a little league ballpark in Frazeysburg, Ohio, where they stole several boxes of potato chips. Butler wrecked the vehicle after leaving the ballpark, then he and McDowell abandoned it in Muskingum County. Thatcher said witnesses and DNA evidence allegedly place Butler and McDowell in possession of the stolen vehicle and at the ballpark. The case was investigated by Detective Sergeant Gary Rohler and Detective Roger Brown of the KCSO and Detective Todd Mahle of the Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office.

Tina M. Johnson, 32, was convicted of corruption of a minor, a sexually oriented offense, in May 1998. As a sex offender, Johnson is required to register her changes of address with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office for ten years. Thatcher said Johnson was indicted for allegedly failing to provide notice of a change of address, on October 5. Detective Sergeant Robert Durbin of the KCSO investigated the case.

William T. Dilger, 23, Tucker Road, Centerburg, and Nicholas A. Hudson, 28, North McKenzie Street, Mount Vernon, are charged with felonious assault for allegedly breaking the arm of a 35 year old Mount Vernon man on November 2. Thatcher said Dilger and Hudson allegedly assaulted the victim at a residence on North Division Street, and while he was on the floor Dilger and Hudson kicked him in his left arm until it broke. Patrolman Jessica Butler of the Mount Vernon Police Department investigated the case.

David A. Stout, 28, got into an argument with his 30 year old live-in girlfriend, on November 2. Stout allegedly grabbed the woman and threw her across the kitchen of their North Catherine Street, Mount Vernon, residence. Patrol Officers Jessica Butler and Tim Arnold of the MVPD responded to the domestic call, and Officer Butler allegedly observed a scratch on the woman’s left arm and other visible injuries.

Benjamin A. Brown, 20, East High Street, Mount Vernon, and Jeremie M. Fincher, Township Road 21, Marengo, face charges of breaking and entering, theft, receiving stolen property and vandalism, and Andrew R. Shaw, 21, North Division Street, Mount Vernon, faces a single count of vandalism out of an incident the night of November 12. Thatcher said Brown allegedly broke into a storage shed at a Mount Vernon golf course where he and Fincher removed golf carts and several tools stored inside. All three men then drove the golf carts on the course allegedly causing a significant amount of damage to five of the greens. The total damage to the golf carts and greens may exceed $5,000.00, according to Thatcher. Patrolman Justin Trowbridge of the MVPD investigated the case.