BUTLER, Ohio — Butler Mayor Wesley R. Dingus, a 48-year-old Republican, has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of voyeurism after a Richland County Sheriff’s Office investigation revealed he allegedly entered the bedroom of an underage related female in his care and sniffed her worn underwear on two separate occasions — conduct recorded on a hidden camera the girl set up herself, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Office.
Dingus was scheduled for arraignment Thursday at 10 a.m. in Mansfield Municipal Court.
According to a Richland County Sheriff’s Office report, the alleged incidents occurred on Jan. 13. A sheriff’s sergeant was contacted that day by Richland County Children Services after authorities received a video showing an adult male going through a child’s bedroom, picking up her underwear, and smelling it.
The girl told investigators she had grown suspicious that Dingus was entering her room and purchased a small camera to document it, according to WOIO/Gray News. She said she received a motion alert on her phone approximately 15 minutes after leaving for school and later reviewed footage showing Dingus entering her room and sniffing her underwear. The following day, she received a second alert. That footage, she told investigators, showed Dingus again entering her room, smelling her worn underwear, and touching his groin area over his clothing.
A Richland County Sheriff’s deputy and a Children Services representative interviewed the girl at her high school on Jan. 14, according to the sheriff’s report.
On Jan. 16, defense attorney James Mayer — who is also representing Dingus in a separate criminal matter — contacted the sheriff’s office to advise that his client would not be making any statements, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Office. The investigation was forwarded to the Mansfield City Law Director’s Office on Jan. 26. Assistant Law Director Ron Sharp authorized two summonses on Feb. 12; they were served to Dingus the following day.
Under Ohio Revised Code 2907.08, voyeurism prohibits a person from surreptitiously invading another’s privacy for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification.
The alleged voyeurism occurred while Dingus was out on bond awaiting trial on separate felony charges. In 2025, a Richland County grand jury indicted Dingus on four counts — aggravated assault, vehicular assault, falsification, and dereliction of duty — stemming from a July 11, 2025, incident in which he allegedly struck a man with his vehicle, according to Richland Source. That man was reportedly fleeing a traffic stop and was wanted by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction for a parole violation. Dingus was arrested on a warrant on Aug. 17, 2025, pleaded not guilty to all charges, and was released on a $25,000 bond. That case remains pending in Richland County Common Pleas Court.
