Man sentenced for assault, sexual battery

A Findlay man was sentenced Tuesday to 10½ to 14 years in prison for felonious assault and sexual battery, County Assistant Prosecutor Heather Pendleton reported. Hancock County Common Pleas Judge Jonathan Starn sentenced Brandon G. Treece, 43, for his convictions in June. Both offenses involved the same woman. Starn sentenced Treece to 7 to 10½ years in prison for knowingly causing serious physical harm to the woman in Findlay in November 2022. Felonious assault is a second-degree felony. Starn ordered that Treece must serve a mandatory minimum of seven years for the felonious assault. However, Starn also made the sentence an indefinite one: Treece could apply for release after seven years, but prison authorities could extend his sentence for the felonious assault by 3½ years for bad behavior in prison. In addition, Treece was sentenced to 3½ years in prison for engaging in sexual conduct with the woman, who was unaware that the act was being committed, in September 2022. The sentence for that offense, a third-degree felony, is to be served consecutively to the prison term for felonious assault. Treece is now classified as a Tier III sex offender, the highest classification. When released from prison, he will be subject to registration and verification requirements with the county sheriff every 90 days for the rest of his life.