BUTLER — Wesley Dingus’ resignation letter was quick and to the point, handwritten on a scrap of yellow notebook paper.
The former mayor of Butler dated his resignation Monday, effective immediately, and noted that his departure from office was “NOT under stress but under duress.”
Council voted unanimously to accept the Dingus’ resignation during a meeting Tuesday night, according to council president and acting mayor Eric “Rick” Thran.
Thran said he will assume the responsibilities of mayor for the remainder of Dingus’ term, which expires at the end of 2027.
“I’ll do my best to service the community,” Thran said. “I just want what’s best for our village.”
Thran was appointed to village council to fill a vacancy in 2022 and successfully ran to retain his seat the following year. He and his wife have lived in the village for over three decades and raised three sons, one of whom died in a motorcycle accident in 2017.
In a 2023 interview with Richland Source, Thran referenced the support his family received during their loss as a motivating factor for serving on council.
“The community was very good to us when we lost our son,” Thran said. “They rallied around us and helped us, so we like to give back.”
Former Butler mayor Wesley Dingus facing charges of misdemeanor voyeurism, felony assault
Dingus is currently the defendant in two pending criminal cases. He declined to comment on his resignation Tuesday afternoon.
The former mayor of Butler was charged with two counts of misdemeanor voyeurism in Mansfield Municipal Court last week, with bond set at $10,000.
Magistrate John McCollister, whose bond allowed the defendant to post 10 percent, also ordered Dingus to have no contact with the alleged victim in the case and wear electronic monitoring.
Both of the charges are third-degree misdemeanors.
The alleged offenses involve the 48-year-old Dingus sniffing the previously worn underwear of a minor relative in his care. Both instances were recorded by a small video camera, according to a Richland County Sheriff’s Office report.
According to Ohio Revised Code 2907.08, “No person, for the purpose of sexually arousing or gratifying the person’s self, shall commit trespass or otherwise surreptitiously invade the privacy of another, to spy or eavesdrop upon another.”
The RCSO began its current investigation after being contacted by Richland County Children Services.
The incidents allegedly took place on Jan. 13, according to the report, while Dingus was out on bond awaiting trial for another criminal case in Richland County Common Pleas Court.
In 2025, Dingus was indicted on four counts by a Richland County grand jury, including aggravated assault (a fourth-degree felony), vehicular assault (a fourth-degree felony), falsification (a first-degree misdemeanor) and dereliction of duty (a second-degree misdemeanor).
The charges stem from a July 11, 2025, incident, during which Dingus allegedly struck a man twice with his car.
The man was wanted by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction for a parole violation and was reportedly fleeing police during a traffic stop when Dingus was charged with hitting him with his vehicle.
Dingus was arrested on a warrant on Aug. 17 and pleaded not guilty to all charges the following day. He was released from the Richland County Jail on a $25,000 bond. That case remains pending in Common Pleas Court.
Dingus was elected to Butler’s village council in 2007 and has served off-and-on until 2022, when he assumed the role of mayor after Joseph Stallard’s resignation. Dingus successfully ran to retain his seat the following year.
Prior to his time on council, Dingus spent two years as Butler’s zoning inspector.