Trending
A former Salem man sentenced to more than 41 years in prison for 79 felony counts, mostly dealing with child pornography, wants to take back his guilty plea and go to trial.
Brian Hough, 62, whose last known address had been Monroe Avenue, is now a resident of the Belmont Correctional Institution.
His attorney, James Wise, filed a motion on June 13 to withdraw his plea, which was entered on April 3 in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court. He was sentenced on June 5 by Judge Scott Washam.
"For cause, counsel respectfully represents that at the sentencing hearing, the defendant made indications that in fact his pleas were not voluntary, but as a result of health issues and extreme pain in which he agreed just to get the matter completed," the motion said.
A motions hearing has been set for 1 p.m. Aug. 24.
The charges against Hough included fifth-degree felony importuning, fifth-degree felony possessing criminal tools, 10 counts of fourth-degree felony pandering obscenity involving a minor or an impaired person and 67 counts of fifth-degree felony illegal use of minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance.
Hough had originally been set to face a jury trial this past spring, but then he requested a trial to the bench before Washam. Testimony was given by Salem Police Detective Brad Davis, then by 11:25 a.m. April 3, the defendant indicated he wanted to plead guilty.
No felony plea agreement was in place, but the state agreed to dismiss the second count of the indictment, a fourth-degree felony of attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
In March 2022, Hough made arrangements to attempt to meet an undercover officer he believed to be a 14-year-old boy for sexual conduct behind a Salem business. Police also discovered his possession of pornographic images involving children.
The pandering obscenity charges were for having, buying or controlling obscene materials with a child as one of the participants. The majority of the charges were for his possession of images or materials depicting naked children.
According to a previous story about the arrest, investigators with the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force became aware of Hough's alleged illegal activity after receiving a tip from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program on Feb. 18, 2022, which said Hough was allegedly downloading child pornography. An agent with the MVHTTF pretended to be a 14-year-old boy and engaged in an undercover conversation with Hough, who then solicited sexual conduct, and then attempted to meet the boy on March 7, 2022, leading to his arrest.
In the judgment entry for the sentencing, Washam wrote "I do not believe the defendant shows any genuine remorse; he does not believe that he has done anything wrong."
But Washam pointed to the volume of child pornography found in the defendant's home and his attempt to meet who he believed was a 14-year-old boy as factors to believe he would commit future crimes.
"When considered in its entirety, the defendant's conduct is truly shocking to the conscience," Washam wrote.
mgreier@mojonews.com