An appeals court has ruled that the case of an Akron, Ohio man, convicted in Hocking County of spying on guests at a rental cabin with a hidden camera, must return to the trial court to determine whether he should have a new plea hearing.
In October 2025 Jason D. Yard, 46, pled no contest to illegal use of a minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance, and was found guilty. The charge stemmed from his having used a video camera hidden in the bathroom of a Marion Township rental cabin he owned, to capture footage of unclothed guests including children.
Yard is currently serving a six- to nine-year prison sentence. In December, however, his appeal attorney, Ryan Shepler, filed a motion with Ohio’s Fourth District Court of Appeals, asking the court to remand the case back to common pleas court for a new change-of-plea hearing — at which hearing Yard would have the choice of again entering a plea, or instead requesting that his case go to trial…