NEWS

Mount Vernon man charged with felony importuning

Joe Williams
Reporter

COSHOCTON - A Mount Vernon man is being detained today in the Coshocton County Jail on an importuning charge involving a deputy he believed to be a 12-year-old girl.

Authorities accuse Scott A. Hughes, 38, of soliciting sex over the Internet from a detective posing as a young girl from West Lafayette.

Coshocton Municipal Judge Timothy France set Hughes' bond Friday morning at $500,000 cash or surety and scheduled a preliminary hearing for 1:15 p.m. Dec 7.

If convicted on the importuning charge, Hughes could face a minimum of two years and a maximum of eight years in prison, according to Coshocton County Prosecutor Jason Given. Given said he plans to present Hughes' case to a grand jury for importuning and additional charges.

Law enforcement officers arrested Hughes Wednesday night following a high-speed chase through Coshocton and West Lafayette that ended with him wrecking on Ohio 93, south of U.S. 36.

In a sworn affidavit, Coshocton County Sheriff's Detective Wesley Wallace said he was made aware of an investigation by the West Lafayette Police Department involving sexually-oriented messages to the girl through Facebook. Wallace said he contacted Hughes, using the girl's Facebook account, with her mother's permission, and set up a meeting at the Coshocton County Fairgrounds.

At the fairgrounds at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Hughes allegedly rammed an undercover vehicle as officers moved in to arrest him, Given said. With authorities in pursuit, Hughes then drove through Coshocton at speeds reaching 70 mph and exceeding 100 mph outside the city on County Road 16, toward West Lafayette. A West Lafayette officer laid spike strips to end the chase, deputies report. They arrested Hughes that night without further incident, according to a press release from Coshocton County Sheriff Timothy Rogers

Hughes was previously convicted of importuning involving a child younger than 13 in Coshocton County in 2001, Given said. That elevates this charge to a second-degree felony, which will carry mandatory prison time upon conviction.

jwilliams6@gannett.com

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