A Defiance man was sentenced to prison after he pled guilty to 3 counts of Pandering Sexually Oriented Matter involving a Minor or Impaired Person. 50 year old Gerald L. Houck, Jr. of Defiance also pled guilty to Attempted Pandering Sexually Oriented Matter, and was ordered to spend 5 years in prison. Houck was classified as a Tier-3 sex offender, which means he must report his address to local law officers every year of his life, after release from prison.
In another case, 44 year old Joseph Herder pled guilty to Domestic Violence, and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Defiance County Prosecuting Attorney Morris Murray also reports 53 year old James D. Zimmerman pled guilty to two counts of Gross Sexual Imposition. A pre-sentence investigation was ordered in this case, with sentencing set for March 8th.