A man who was found in Masury with a girl who had been reported as missing pleaded guilty recently to a charge of obstruction.
Joshua M. Ocheltree, 36, of Sharon, entered the plea March 14 in Trumbull County Eastern District Court. Judge Marty Nosich sentenced Ocheltree to 20 hours of community service in lieu of 2 days in jail, a $200 fine and 1 year of probation.
As part of Ocheltree’s probation, he will have to undergo evaluations for substance abuse and mental health issues, Nosich said.
Prosecutors withdrew a second obstruction charge and Nosich granted the dismissal when Ocheltree stipulated that there was probable cause for the charge to be filed.
Ocheltree was living in Masury on Oct. 30 when police were dispatched to Nellie Street for a domestic dispute, Brookfield police said. The alleged participants had left the apartment and police searched for them. Police found Ocheltree and a 16-year-old girl who been reported missing Sept. 3 from Dayton walking on Hazelton Street.
Ocheltree identified himself but claimed he lived in Warren and not at the apartment on Nellie, where police had found a photo of him, police said.
The girl gave an incorrect name and told police she was 36, police said.
As police had arrested the pair and were separating them, they told each other that they loved the other and “acted as if they were in a relationship,” police said. The girl also said they both lived in the apartment, police said.
The girl was charged with several offenses in juvenile court.