Springfield man convicted of child sex assault might see more time

A Springfield man who was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a 3-year-old last year allegedly violated his probation.

Kenneth Sammons, 25, pleaded guilty last year to gross sexual imposition in Clark County Common Pleas Court and was sentenced by Clark County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard O’Neill to serve six months in jail, five years of probation and complete a sex offender treatment program. He will have to register as a tier two sex offender for the next 25 years.

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The maximum sentence he faced was five years in prison, according to Assistant Clark County Prosecutor Andrew Picek.

Prosecutors said at the time of the sentencing they believed Sammons deserved to go to prison for the crime.

“While we respect the judge’s decision to sentence Sammons to community control, jail and an inpatient secured facility sex offender treatment program, obviously we felt a prison sentence was the more appropriate disposition, and that is why we argued for one at sentencing,” Picek said.

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Sammons recently was thrown out of the treatment program, Picek said, and that allegedly violates the terms of his probation.

Sammons was in court last week for a probation violation hearing when he and his attorney were formally informed of the accusations. If O’Neill rules that he violated the terms of his probation, he could face up to five years in prison.

The investigation started after the mother of the victim reported him to the sheriff’s office, according to court records.

Clark County Deputy Debra Strileckyj wrote in an affidavit that the mother said that she, Sammons and the 3-year-old were sleeping in the same bed at the Drake Motel when she felt the bed shake.

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“She pulled back the blankets and saw Sammons completely naked,” the court records say.

The affidavit says the child was sleeping and Sammons was knowingly assaulting the child.

“She pushed him away from the child and confronted his actions,” the report says.

Sammons said he didn’t know what he was doing that night, Picek said.

“Sammons later told the girlfriend during a recorded phone call that he thought it was her and not the child,” Picek said.

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