Headlines 18 December 2018

UPDATED: Pike County sheriff under investigation

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Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader is under investigation.

According to multiple reports, Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk asked for a special prosecutor “to serve in the investigation” in his motion filed Friday, Dec. 14 in Pike County Common Pleas Court.

Junk reportedly has asked Judge Randy Deering to appoint Robert F. Smith, an attorney with Ohio Auditor Dave Yost’s Office, the special prosecuting attorney. 

According to a Dec. 17 report by The Cincinnati Enquirer (see https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/crime/2018/12/17/complaint-pike-county-sheriff-stole-money-drug-cases-fuel-gambling-problem/2340281002/), Reader is accused anonymously of stealing money taken from drug cases to fuel a gambling problem. The Enquirer cites a complaint filed with the Ohio Auditor’s Office on Nov. 9.

The Enquirer said it obtained the complaint through a record request with the state auditor’s office.

Last month, Reader, along with Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Junk, announced that a husband, wife and their two adult sons have been arrested for the murders of eight people in the Rhoden family in western Pike County. 

George "Billy" Wagner III, 47, Angela Wagner, 48, George Wagner IV, 27, and Edward "Jake" Wagner, 26, of South Webster, are each charged with eight counts of aggravated murder with death penalty specifications.

The eight counts represent each victim found dead in Pike County on April 22, 2016.

For more information, go to https://highlandcountypress.com/Content/In-The-News/In-The-News/Article/Ohio-AG-DeWine-issues-press-release-on-Wagner-family-arrests/2/20/47243.

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