Clyde man charged with child rape, child porn offenses

CLYDE — A Clyde man was arrested on a warrant following a Sandusky County grand jury indictment on sex charges. Donald H. Thompson Jr., 77, of the 1800 block of County Road 228, was indicted on March 21 on the following charges: • Four counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person, each a second-degree felony • Two counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person, each a second-degree felony • Two counts of rape, each a first-degree felony The alleged crimes occurred between July 2023 and August 2024, according to his indictment, when he allegedly engaged in "sexual conduct" with someone whose ability to resist or consent was substantially impaired due to a "mental or physical condition." Thompson was arrested on the same day of his indictment. Background On Aug. 3, the Sandusky County Sheriff's Office received a call from a man stating that he found an underage girl allegedly being sexually assaulted by Thompson inside a motor home. He allegedly told deputies that she informed him that she and Thompson were just hanging out. However, after asking her a few more times, she eventually revealed that Thompson and she and Thompson allegedly had sex, the report states. The man further explained that when he inquired about how long this had been going on, she stated it had been for about a year, the report states. After speaking with the man, the deputy went to the motor home and began speaking with Thompson. The deputy then explained to Thompson the reason why he was there. The deputy noted that Thompson immediately denied everything. The deputy proceeded to go back over to where the man and girl were and noted that she appeared to be upset. When asked about what happened, the girl allegedly told the deputy that she and Thompson first had sex a year ago and that Thompson allegedly had nude photos of her on his phone, the report states. The girl additionally told the deputy that she told Thompson multiple times to stop but that he wouldn't do so. When the deputy went over to Thompson to speak with him once more, Thompson reportedly told the deputy that he couldn't believe she would say that. The deputy noted that Thompson allegedly kept saying that he loves her very much and he would never do something inappropriate like that. As of this past weekend, Thompson remains at the Sandusky County Jail on a $100,000 bond. He has an upcoming court hearing scheduled at 1:30 p.m. on April 24.