Jail officer in sexual extortion case now faces felonies in county court

A corrections officer employed at the Portage County Jail found himself indicted for a second time March 9, this time in Portage County Common Pleas Court.

Austin Paul Wilson, 29, was originally arraigned Feb. 25 in Portage County Municipal Court on a third-degree felony count of sexual extortion and a fifth-degree felony count of dissemination of an image of another person.

However, municipal courts have no jurisdiction over felony cases. Portage County Municipal Court Judge Melissa R. Roubic granted the county prosecutor’s request to have the case dismissed on March 5, noting that Wilson had been indicted by a Portage County grand jury.

That ensured that the case will be handled in Portage County Common Pleas Court, which does have jurisdiction to hear felony cases.

In a complaint PCSO Captain Robert James filed Feb. 25 with the municipal court, he stated that “Wilson threatened to release the private images of another in order to compel this other person to send additional private images.”

James alleged that the incident took place Feb. 23 at the Portage County Justice Center. Court records associated with Wilson’s case do not indicate if the victim was a jail inmate or a co-worker.

Wilson remains free after posting 10% of a $10,000 bond. Common Pleas Judge Laurie Pittman also ordered a temporary restraining order to protect the unnamed victim(s), set a status conference and pretrial for March 27, a criminal pretrial for May 18 and a criminal jury trial for May 27.

He is being represented by Ravenna attorney James Eskridge.