Ohio Democrat Gerald Dixon was sworn into office for a second term on the Whitehall City Council on Tuesday, just hours after he was released from custody on his own recognizance following his arrest on child sex abuse charges. Dixon denies the charges.
The 64-year-old Dixon, who said this year he has been a Democrat since 1980, overwhelmingly won a second term to the nonpartisan Whitehall City Council Ward 1 seat in November with nearly 70 percent of the vote. Whitehall is a suburb of Columbus.
WBNS-TV showed dueling video images of Dixon at his bond hearing Tuesday and being sworn in just hours after his release:
Excerpt from the Columbus Dispatch report on Dixon:
A Whitehall City Council member charged with sexually abusing several boys since the 1990s is denying the charges and has taken his oath of office for another term in council chambers.
Gerald Dixon was arrested and charged Dec. 8 by Whitehall police, accused of sexually abusing at least eight boys since 1996. On Dec. 9, a Franklin County Municipal Court judge released Dixon from the Franklin County jail on his own recognizance as he was deemed not a threat to flee.
Hours later, Dixon appeared in Whitehall City Council chambers as scheduled to take his oath of office, having been reelected to another four-year term in the Nov. 4 election to represent the city’s 1st Ward.
Dixon has been charged with felony counts of gross sexual imposition and compelling prostitution. Whitehall police said Dixon’s arrest was part of a larger investigation and that he had been under investigation since 2020, before he was elected to City Council. Whitehall police were assisted by the FBI, police said Dec. 9 during a press conference the day after Dixon’s arrest.
WCMH-TV reported the case could go back decades (excerpt):
Police say they have evidence that a Whitehall city councilman spent years and perhaps decades grooming underage victims, leading to his arrest Monday night on felony charges.
Allegations that Gerald Dixon was grooming boys were brought to police’s attention in late 2020, with an investigation beginning in mid 2023, Chief Mike Crispen said Tuesday morning.
“The evidence is pretty overwhelming. And this started long before he was on council,” Crispen said. “I’m not sure if he was aware that we were looking at him, but certainly we were before he ever became a councilmember.”
At least eight victims have come forward, and police said they often exhibited signs of sexual victimization, both mentally and physically, which halted some to share their full experiences with Dixon. Dixon, 64, who has served since 2021, is facing felony charges of gross sexual imposition and compelling prostitution.
…Dixon is being accused of requesting victims to perform sexually explicit acts and of paying an underage, cognitively impaired individual to perform sexual acts. The investigation into Dixon stretched past Ohio into New York and Michigan, prompting Whitehall police to reach out to the FBI.
Dixon was arrested Monday about 6 p.m. without incident. During a search, electronic devices were found with explicit material and writings as well as drawings of young boys. Detectives described it as a “hoarder house,” Crispen said.
Video of the Whitehall police briefing on Tuesday:
Dixon’s City Council bio:
Gerald Dixon is a native Whitehallian and a proud graduate of Whitehall Yearling High School. After graduation from WYHS, Councilor Dixon embarked on a successful acting career in New York City and Hollywood before returning to his roots and purchasing his family home on Doney Street, where he now resides. While acting is no longer his primary vocation, he continues to be an active member of the Screen Actors Guild.
Councilor Dixon has always had a strong desire to give back to his community through public service and is eager to bring his passion for Whitehall, city planning and sociology to the Council table. He also has a passion for debate and good conversation, and welcomes his neighbors to reach out to discuss all things Whitehall.
In his spare time, Councilor Dixon tends to home improvements, his cat Alex’s well-being, visiting friends, reading, gardening, movies, writing, painting and paying bills.
Favorite things about Whitehall:
“Whitehall is all the little things that flavor our lives here; the golden slanted sunlight of evening in John Bishop Park during the summer months as baseball and basketball games wind down. The roar of the crowd when the Rams score a touchdown on a chilly Autumn night, the kindly faces of your neighbors volunteering at events, the always heartfelt earnestness of our little town’s parade entrants during Independence Day, the serenity of a Sunday morning, the everyday poetry, beauty and rightness of regular folks going about their business, raising children, shopping and living their lives and, of course, the support this community has for itself.
When all is said and done, it is home.”
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