RICHLAND COUNTY — An Ohio mayor has resigned after criminal charges were filed against him related to accusations that he was allegedly caught on camera smelling a teenager’s underwear.
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In a note, Wesley Dingus, the mayor of the Village of Butler in Richland County, resigned from his position, “not under stress but under duress,” WOIO, a CBS affiliate in Cleveland, reported.
As previously reported, Dingus was recently charged with two counts of voyeurism.
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The Richland County Sheriff’s Office reached out to Richland County Children’s Services after they were “sent a video showing an adult male going through [a child’s] bedroom, picking up her underwear and smelling it” on Jan. 13, according to a report obtained by WOIO.
Authorities and a children’s services representative went to the victim’s high school to speak with her about the reported incident the following day.
The report indicates that she told officials that she was worried that Dingus might go into her room, so she set up a small video camera.
The victim left for school around 7 a.m. on Jan. 13. About 15 minutes later, she got a notification that there was motion detected in her room.
The footage allegedly showed Dingus go into the teenager’s room and start smelling her underwear, according to the records.
A similar situation occurred the following morning.
Deputies prepared summonses for the voyeurism charges on Feb. 12, and they were issued on Feb. 13.
WOIO reported that he was arraigned on the charges and posted bond. He’s been ordered not to contact the victim.
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