Coshocton man takes plea deal to avoid jury trial

COSHOCTON − A Coshocton man gripped a cross around is neck and appeared emotional as he entered guilty pleas to charges Tuesday in Coshocton County Common Pleas Court. A scheduled jury trial was avoided due to a plea deal.

Desmond L. Johns, 56, was indicted in January 2021 with disseminating matter harmful to a juvenile, a fifth-degree felony, from an incident on July 3, 2020, and extortion, a third-degree felony, from an incident on Nov. 23, 2020. The female was 16-years-old at the time.

The Coshocton County Sheriff's Office received a report on Jan. 19, 2021, of a male requesting inappropriate photographs and videos of a juvenile residing in Coshocton County. After an investigation by the detective division, a search warrant was issued on Johns' resident and he was taken into custody on Jan. 21.

In November 2021, a new indictment was issued that included the previous disseminating matter and extortion charges. It also included 16 counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person, fourth-degree felonies, and two counts of illegal use of a minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance, fifth-degree felonies.

The pandering charges stated Johns knowingly solicited, received, purchased, exchanged, possessed or controlled material that showed a minor participating in sexual activity. The illegal use of a minor charges stated Johns possessed or viewed material or performance that showed a minor in a state of nudity.

Per a plea deal, Johns entered a guilty plea to count one of the indictment and an amended count two, attempted extortion as a fourth-degree felony. The state agreed to drop all other charges.

A joint sentencing recommendation of community control sanctions, or probation, has been made. Judge Robert Batchelor ordered a pre-sentencing investigation and a sentencing hearing is yet to be set.

Johns could receive up to 12 months in prison on the disseminating charge and 18 months for the attempted extortion charge and be fined up to $7,500. Due to the nature of the charges, Johns would not need to register as a sex offender.

Special Prosecutor Kara Keating said she spoke with the victim and her mother and they were agreeable to the plea deal offered.

"The victim, while not jumping up and down and wanting to testify, said she very much would testify, but was ultimately in agreement with this plea so she wouldn't have to come into court and see (Johns)," Keating said.

Johns' attorney, W. Scott Ramsey, said he felt the plea deal was the best course of action for his client. While he didn't have direct evidence to Johns' innocence, Ramsey was prepared to argue the possibility of someone else taking and using Johns' cell phone as his defense at trial through insinuation and inference.

"I gauged what our chances of success might have been in relation to the plea that was made by the state of Ohio. I made the decision to take this action today," Ramsey explained to Batchelor.

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Coshocton man takes plea deal to avoid jury trial