Defiance man convicted of 10 sexual abuse charges following jury trial

A Defiance man was convicted of multiple sexual abuse charges following a two-day jury trial this week in Defiance County Common Pleas Court.

Michael Groh, 5105 Havenwood Drive, was found guilty of 10 counts of gross sexual imposition, each a third-degree felony. The jury deliberated for less than two hours in announcing its verdicts.

Judge Joseph Schmenk ordered a pre-sentence investigation and revoked Groh’s $100,000 surety bond, setting a new bond of $500,000 with a 10% allowance provision. Sentencing was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on June 17.

Groh, who had been indicted on the charges by a county grand jury last June, was being held Thursday in the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio. He could be sentenced up to five years in prison on each of the charges.

The charges alleged that between October 2014 and September 2015 he engaged in sexual contact with female, who was 10 years old at the time. According to Defiance County Prosecutor Morris Murray, who handled the state’s case, the allegations against Groh surfaced in early 2023.

He said both the defendant and the victim testified during the trial.

Murray hopes with the trial verdict the victim “hopefully will get some validation and be able to have closure for this stuff that happened to her when she was a little girl.”

Groh was represented by attorney Cam Stanley of Defiance during the trial.

An effort to contact Stanley for comment Thursday was unsuccessful.