An 18-year-old Delaware County man has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to charges in Delaware County Common Pleas Court in connection with sex with a 16-year-old girl.
Nathan Michael James Deering, 18, formerly of Powell, appeared in court Wednesday morning and was given a sentence of 30 months in prison for abduction, a third-degree felony, and six months in prison for the illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material, a fifth-degree felony.
The sentences were ordered to be served consecutively. Deering was taken into custody by Delaware County sheriff’s deputies after the hearing and was in the Delaware County Jail Wednesday night awaiting transportation to prison.
Deering had originally been indicted on two charges of rape, which are first-degree felonies, in addition to the illegal use of a minor charge, but the rape charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement with county prosecutors. At Deering’s arraignment, prosecutors said he forced a 16-year-old girl to have sex with him on two different occasions.
The abduction charge was brought against Deering at a change-of-plea hearing on March 18. The charge was filed in a bill of information from prosecutors, meaning the charge came directly from the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office and not through an indictment from a county grand jury.
The abduction charge states that between Aug. 30 and Sept. 6, 2015, Deering “did knowingly by force or threat, restrain the liberty of another person under circumstances that create a risk of physical harm to the victim or place the other person in fear.”
The illegal use of a minor charge stems from Deering possessing photos of the girl in a state of undress on his cellphone, prosecutors said.
Deering was indicted by a grand jury on the rape charges and the illegal use of a minor charge on Oct. 23, 2015. His trial had been set for March 22 before he changed his plea.
Prosecutors said at his arraignment that investigators had taken phones belonging to both Deering and the victim for analysis.
Deputies first arrested Deering after receiving a call about the incidents.
Prosecutors said Deering was convicted in 2014 on a charge of sexual imposition and was on probation when the current offenses occurred.
