Thursday, January 25th, 2024
Man, 79, sentenced for sexual battery
The 2 victims were both under age 10
By Abigail Miller
CELINA - A 79-year-old Celina man will serve at least 12 1/2 years in prison after he was sentenced on Wednesday morning in Mercer County Common Pleas Court for various child sex crimes.
Darrell M. Bollenbacher was sentenced via video appearance from the Mercer County jail to a minimum of 12 1/2 years and up to 15 years in the Ohio Department of Rehabilitations and Corrections on two counts of sexual battery, a second-degree felony, and one count of gross sexual imposition, a third-degree felony.
Bollenbacher was originally charged with one count of rape, a first-degree felony, and seven counts of gross sexual imposition, a third-degree felony. However, the charges were amended as part of a negotiated plea deal.
He was previously held on a $750,000 bond at the Mercer County jail.
Celina police received a sexual abuse complaint on Oct. 4 from a victim representative, according to an affidavit released on Oct. 5. The complainant said they heard two alleged victims, both under the age of 10, discussing the alleged abuse and agreeing not to say anything about it.
A Celina police officer contacted the victim representative and was told the family confronted Bollenbacher and he reportedly admitted to the claims.
After the report, Celina police officer Nathan Miller visited Bollenbacher at his residence. When asked if he knew why they were there, Bollenbacher allegedly said yes.
Bollenbacher told police that at first, the two victims would ask for back rubs, which later escalated to one victim allegedly asking him to rub their private areas, according to the affidavit.
In addition, Bollenbacher allegedly admitted to police that he showed one of the victims a pornographic video after they had reportedly asked to see it.
Miller wrote that Bollenbacher could not provide specific dates for the abuse but said he assaulted one of the victims six to eight times and the other victim an unknown amount of times around April or June 2023. Bollenbacher reportedly said it stopped in July or August.
