Williams grand jury indicts three for rape; two of them have more than 25 charges

BRYAN — A Williams County grand jury has returned rape indictments against three men — two of them with more than two dozen counts — and each faces the possibility of life imprisonment upon conviction as charged, according to Prosecutor Katie Zartman’s office.

Among them is Nicholas Phillips, 41, Bryan, who is charged with 32 counts of rape, each a first-degree felony with a sexually violent predator specification; three counts of corrupting another with drugs, each a second-degree felony; three counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material, each a second-degree felony; and four counts of gross sexual imposition, third- and fourth-degree felonies.

The charges allege that he engaged in sexual conduct with two girls under the age of 13 and also provided illegal drugs to a third child and engaged in sexual contact with her. Allegations date as far back as 2009 and as recent as July this year.

Phillips was being held Wednesday in the Corrections of Northwest Ohio (CCNO) on a $1 million bond and is scheduled for arraignment on Sept. 3 in Williams County Common Pleas Court, according to Zartman.

Phillips’ wife, Ann Phillips, 42, Bryan, also is charged with three counts of endangering children, each a third-degree felony.

Zartman said she is charged “in relationship to his (Nicholas Phillips’) crimes.”

Meanwhile, Daniel Gill, 26, Ridgeville Corners, was indicted for 25 counts of rape, each a first-degree felony with a sexually violent predator specification; two counts of gross sexual imposition, each a third-degree felony; and one count of importuning, a third-degree felony.

Most of the charges allege that he engaged in sexual conduct with a boy under the age of 10 between February 2021 and July 22 this year. He also allegedly engaged in sexual contact with a second male juvenile.

Gill also was being held Wednesday in CCNO on a $1 million bond, and was scheduled to be arraigned today in Williams County Common Pleas Court.

A third man, Walter Dunning, 76, Cottonwood, Ariz., was indicted on a single count of rape, a first-degree felony.

The charge alleges that on Sept. 2, 2022 he engaged in sexual conduct with a seven-year-old girl.

Dunning remained at-large on Wednesday, according to Zartman.

Among others indicted by the same grand jury was Alan Darrington Jr., 32, Toledo, for felonious assault, a second-degree felony.

The indictment alleges that on June 21 he caused serious physical harm to another man.