Salem man given 3-year prison term

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

YOUNGSTOWN — A 19-year-old man convicted of sex crimes involving a 12-year-old girl will spend the next three years behind bars.

Joshua Dent, 19, of Goshen Road, Salem, appeared for sentencing Wednesday before Judge Jack Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on charges of gross sexual imposition and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.

Dent was sentenced to three years on the sexual-imposition charge and one year on the charge of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. Judge Durkin made both prison terms concurrent.

Dent also will be required to register as a sex offender for 15 years and be placed on five years’ probation after being released from prison.

In early June, a Mahoning County grand jury indicted Dent on the charges. The indictment said Dent had sexual contact with the girl and showed her adult sexual material.

The case was set to go to trial in August, but Dent agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors in which he would plead guilty to the charges and prosecutors would not oppose any request he might make for early release from prison.

Before sentencing, the young girl’s mother made a tearful plea to the court for a lengthy prison term for Dent.

“We opened up our home to him. I just don’t want him to come back out into the community where he can go back on his actions,” she said. “This has been very hard for us.”

Atty. Michael Kivlighan, representing Dent, asked the court to forgo any jail time and sentence Dent to some form of probation. He said Dent’s actions stemmed from a high level of immaturity.

“Josh made a lot of poor decisions in his life. Josh is truly a 14-year-old boy trapped in a 19-year-old body. He is very immature,” Kivlighan said. “I don’t believe he is sexual-predator danger to society. I don’t think incarceration would be necessary to rehabilitate or deter him.”

Kivlighan told the judge Dent should receive some form of counseling.

Dent offered a formal apology “for hurting anybody that I have.” He also asked if he could be released without jail time to the custody of his father.

Judge Durkin agreed that Dent appears to be a juvenile trapped in a man’s body but said he is still responsible for his adult actions.

“I am certain that prison will not accomplish treatment, but I am also certain that given your criminal history, prison is necessary to punish you,” the judge said.