Man guilty of trying to lure girls

A 25-year-old man who tried to lure girls into his car in three separate incidents in Franklin County last summer was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison.

Jonathan E. Ringel, of Worthington, pleaded guilty to importuning, disseminating matter harmful to juveniles and two counts of criminal child enticement.

The sentence was imposed by Common Pleas Judge Chris Brown as part of a plea agreement recommended by prosecuting and defense attorneys.

Ringel was convicted of similar offenses in Virginia in 2015. He will return to Virginia for violating his probation in those cases after serving his Ohio prison sentence.

His central Ohio case attracted attention when charges filed against him for approaching two girls on East North Street in Worthington on Aug. 13 were dismissed because of 2014 Ohio Supreme Court ruling that invalidated part of the state’s child-enticement law. Ringel

But a grand jury indicted Ringel under a different portion of the child-enticement statute, plus other offenses related to two other incidents.

In addition to the Worthington case, Ringel approached some girls on Aug. 10 near Case and Sawmill roads on Columbus’ Northwest Side and on Aug. 14 on Olentangy Boulevard in Riverlea village, just north of Columbus. Ringel exposed himself to some of the girls, Assistant Prosecutor Nadia Haque said.