SIDNEY — An Anna man was indicted by the Shelby County grand jury Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, on 12 counts of child sex-related felonies.
Gage Dalton Wannemacher, 20, faces two charges of rape for allegedly forcing a 13-year-old child, as well as a child over the age of 13, to perform sexual acts on him during the month of January 2021.
Between August 2020 and January 2021, he allegedly attempted to rape a minor over the age of 13 by forcing sexual acts to be performed on him, being a second-degree felony.
Wannemacher was also indicted on nine counts of gross sexual imposition, involving forced touching with a child over the age of 13, two of which are third degree felonies, and the remaining seven counts are fourth-degree felonies.
The dates in which these nine incidents allegedly occurred were July 2020, July 18, 2020, August 2020, between May to August 2020, between August to December 2020, and between September to December 2020.
The indictment revives an older case against Wannemacher when he was indicted by a grand jury on July 15, 2021, on seven child sex crimes. On Oct. 7, 2021, a jury trial was scheduled on the court docket to occur on Dec. 21, 2021. However, on Dec. 7, 2021, Shelby County Prosecutor Timothy Sell filed a nolle prosequi, which is Latin for “will no longer prosecute.”
According to the legal website nolo.com, “nolle prosequi” is the legal option to act as if the charges had never been filed and is often used in cases where the prosecutor feels there is insufficient evidence to obtain a conviction, but leaves the door open to pursue the same charges again in the future, whereas an acquittal would not be able to pursue the charges again, as it would then be classified as “double jeopardy” in violation of the defendant’s constitutional rights.
Sell is not able to comment on pending cases.
However, using a nolo prosequi enabled Sell to move forward with a new case against Wannemacher, incorporating the same charges from the previous case, that resulted in Wannemacher’s indictment on Jan. 27, 2022.
