Man charged with child sex crimes

SANDUSKY — A Sandusky man was recently indicted on multiple felony sex crimes involving a child. Brandon T. O'Hara, 30, of the 2300 block of Milan Road (U.S. 250), was first indicted by an Erie County grand jury in October and for a second time in December on the following charges: • Six counts of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, each a fifth-degree felony • Three counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person, each a fourth-degree felony • Three counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, each a third-degree felony • One count of pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person, a fourth-degree felony According to O'Hara's indictment, the alleged crimes occurred between July and September, which involved him "engaging in sexual conduct" while allegedly knowing that person was a minor. The investigation into O'Hara began after the Huron County Sheriff's Office received information from the Greene County Sheriff's Office in Indiana stating that O'Hara had allegedly taken a teenage girl with him to South Carolina, according to a Sandusky police report. When officers arrived at the residence, they observed through a window a young girl lying alongside O'Hara on a bed in the front room, the report states. The girl went up to open the door for the police and was asked by officers if she was from Indiana, to which she allegedly stated, "No." Shortly after speaking with the girl, officers began to speak with one of the child's guardians. The guardian allegedly told the officer that the girl and O'Hara had been friends for several months and that she was previously under the impression that O'Hara was 18 years old, not 29, the report states. Officers told the girl's guardian that the relationship between O'Hara and the girl was inappropriate and that if she continued to allow the girl to hang out with O'Hara alone, she would be charged with endangering children, the report states. The child's guardian stated that she understood and would make sure to cease all contact with O'Hara. While officers were on scene, they were made aware that O'Hara had an active warrant from South Carolina for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, the report states. On Sept. 27, Sandusky police received a call from the child's guardian stating that O'Hara had contacted the young girl despite being told to no longer do so, the report states. Because of the information received, an investigator from Erie County children's services interviewed the girl where she stated that she and O'Hara allegedly had sex a few hours prior to the police showing up the first time, the report states. Due to the girl's statements during the interview and the fact that O'Hara attempted to contact the girl after being told not to, Sandusky police arrested O'Hara on a single charge of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a third-degree felony, and transported him to the Erie County Jail, the report states. Similar criminal history O'Hara's Erie County criminal charges are not the first time he's been accused of sexual conduct with minors. In 2019, police in Horry County, South Carolina, arrested O'Hara for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor that he met through Snapchat; however, prosecutors later dropped the case, according to Horry County court records. O'Hara was later arrested again for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in 2021, according to court records. While that case was pending and he was out on bond, O'Hara was then allegedly caught bringing a 15-year-old girl across state lines to Myrtle Beach, which is located in Horry County, according to WMBF News. In speaking with police, he allegedly admitted to having "relations while naked together" with the girl. WMBF stated that a police report listed O'Hara as a registered sex offender in South Carolina. A search of the South Carolina sex offender database on Tuesday did not return any results for O'Hara. As of Wednesday, O'Hara remains locked up in the Erie County Jail on a $80,000 bond. O'Hara had a pretrial hearing scheduled for earlier this week.