Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that a Williams County man was found guilty today of raping three children. Daniel Bignell, 40, made an Alford plea to three counts of rape in Williams County Common Pleas Court this morning. Williams County Common Pleas Court Judge J.T. Stelzer then found him guilty of the charges. The plea happened in the midst of his jury trial, which started Monday. Bignell was indicted in September after an investigation by the Williams County Sheriff’s Office revealed that he had raped three children over a period of 11 years. The crimes happened between 2001 and 2010 and began when the children were 13-years-old or younger. “Investigators began looking at Bignell after one of the victims, who is now an adult, came forward. That is very courageous,” said Attorney General DeWine. The case is being prosecuted by attorneys from the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Section. Bignell will be sentenced on January 9, 2014, and could receive up to 30 years in prison.
