Newark woman sentenced to 8 years in prison after forcing child to use meth

Maria DeVito | Newark Advocate

ZANESVILLE - A Newark woman has been sentenced to eight years in prison after forcing a 15-year-old girl to use methamphetamine and recording the incident.

Gina M. Hanning, 36, of Newark, received an aggregate prison term of eight years, five years of mandatory time, by Judge Mark C. Fleegle in Muskingum County Common Pleas Court for one count of corrupting another with drugs, a second-degree felony, and one count of perjury, a third-degree felony.

Muskingum County Assistant Prosecutor John C. Litle III said a video in the state's possession shows Hanning and her husband, Timothy A. Hanning Jr., laughing as they forced the girl, who is a family member, to use methamphetamine visible on a placard of "Footprints," a poem about God. Litle said in court it was one of the most disturbing things he had seen in his career.

In the video, both Hannings laugh as the child snorts the meth off the placard and begins to convulse, Litle said.

The video was discovered in February after Gina reported Timothy for domestic violence in an incident unrelated to the video.

In May, Timothy Hanning was sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of rape, sexual battery and corrupting another with drugs. Court documents show Timothy beat Gina on Feb. 9. She left the home and called police. When authorities arrived at the home, Timothy was in process of raping the 15-year-old girl.

Litle said the girl heard the police. Timothy threatened her to be silent and that the police would go away soon. Officers left a few minutes later.

Hours later, after a search warrant, the Strategic Response Team was able to make entry and rescue the child from the home.

Litle said he couldn't comment specifically on the status of the victim, but said generally when someone this young experiences trauma of this magnitude it can take years or decades to fully recover.