Judge rejects a new trial for sex offender

CELINA - A 45-year-old sex offender's bid for a new trial in Mercer County Common Pleas Court was denied this week after a visiting judge found there was no juror misconduct during his trial last summer.

Judge Jonathan P. Hein ruled Tuesday that attorneys for Johnathon H. Grove failed to establish that there were any "substantive discussions" between a juror and a former law clerk with previous knowledge of the case.

"The defendant has also failed to establish that he suffered any prejudice from the 'small talk' which occurred between the juror and former intern," Hein wrote in his entry. "Therefore, the defendant has failed to meet his burden to prove grounds for a new trial."

Hein made the decision based on testimony from an April 2 hearing and multiple affidavits filed by both the state and defense over the last few months.

The defense's Jan. 30 motion for a new trial came about after a conversation Grove attorney Andrea Henning had with former Mercer County law clerk Trevor Kriegel in September of 2025. He approached her at the Auglaize County Municipal Court with questions about her trial strategy during the Grove case, then ultimately admitted to knowing juror Gregory Axe and reportedly speaking to him before and during Grove's trial from July 14 to 17, 2025.

Axe and Kriegel, who are childhood friends, both denied that they spoke about the facts of the case. The state opposed the motion for a new trial.

The defense can appeal Hein's ruling within 30 days of its issuance.

Grove was convicted in July 2025 of 29 counts of illegal use of a minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance, a second-degree felony; one count of importuning, a third-degree felony; one count of importuning, a fifth-degree felony; four counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a third-degree felony; one count of rape, a first-degree felony; four counts of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, a fourth-degree felony; and one count of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, a fifth-degree felony.

At sentencing in August 2025, he was sentenced to between 104 1/2 years and 108 years in prison.

He was charged with the crimes in December 2023, following a sexual encounter and months-long sexually explicit correspondence he had with a then 12-year-old female victim, who resided in Fort Recovery.

He's incarcerated at the Allen County Correctional Institution in Lima.