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Former youth pastor pleads in sexual battery case
A former Van Wert youth pastor changed his plea to guilty on four felony sexual battery charges.

Benjamin R. Boysel, 34, was in court for a final pretrial hearing Monday morning. A jury trial was already on the court calendar to begin May 17. Instead, the defendant, dressed in dirty blue jeans, a flannel shirt and green jacket, signed the change of plea declaration, avoiding a public trial.

Boysel, who has been living with his parents in Medina, Ohio, was formerly employed as youth pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church in Van Wert. It was during that time that, according to the indictment, that Boysel had sexual relations with four different females who were under the age of 18....