A Mowrystown man charged with multiple counts of child pornography for items found on his computer has pled guilty and has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
Jon Chad Pruitt, 41, was charged in a June indictment with 20 counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor, all fourth-degree felonies. He pled guilty to eight of those counts on Wednesday, and the remainder were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
The charges stem from a search of his home nearly a year ago and the subsequent analysis by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which issued a report on its findings in April.
An affidavit filed with the Hillsboro Municipal Court states that the material found on Pruitt’s electronics, which included hundreds of videos and graphics, depicts children between the approximate ages of 4 and 10 years old involved in various sexual acts.
The investigation began with the Franklin County Crimes Against Children Unit and a search warrant on an IP address that came back to Pruitt.
On Wednesday, defense attorney Edward McTigue told the court that the defendant was sexually abused as a child. It is a matter that came before the common pleas court when judge Rocky Coss was prosecutor, and something the judge recalled from the bench on Wednesday.
While McTigue did not offer the abuse as an excuse for his client’s behavior, he asked that the court consider it, perhaps down the road, if Pruitt files for early release. He said the abuse has “affected his whole life,” but Pruitt has the support of his family, has sought counseling, has remained gainfully employed and been a “productive member of society,” and has no previous record.
Pruitt apologized to the court. He also offered regret that his daughter has to deal with her dad’s admitting his guilt to the charges against him.
“I’m truly sorry,” he said.
Coss acknowledged the seriousness of the charges, adding that the availability of child pornography on the Internet “is such a large problem.” He noted that, while there was no evidence that Pruitt’s behavior had escalated beyond images on a screen, a “large number” of sexual predators also visit the same Internet sites where Pruitt obtained images.
Prosecutor Anneka Collins told the court that all the photos and videos recovered from Pruitt’s electronic devices were downloaded material from the Internet and not something that he took himself. She said law enforcement approved of the plea agreement.
Following the completion of his sentence, Pruitt will face five years of mandatory supervision by the Adult Parole Authority and he will be required to register as a Tier II sex offender for 25 years.
In other hearings on Wednesday, Olivia Hayslip, 32, New Vienna, was sentenced to nine months in prison for aggravated possession of methamphetamine. She pled guilty to the fifth-degree felony in May.
Gregory Wallace, 20, Hillsboro, was sentenced to community control and treatment on fifth-degree felony marijuana trafficking charges he pled guilty to in 2014.
Ernie Ray Haskill, 35, Mount Orab, was sentenced to community control and treatment for fourth-degree felony trafficking in a counterfeit controlled substance. He pled guilty to that charge in May.
David Elliott, 30, Hillsboro, pled guilty to fifth-degree felony nonsupport and will be sentenced in August following a presentence investigation.
Reach Angela Shepherd at 937-393-3456, ext. 1681, or on Twitter @wordyshepherd.
