EATON — A Camden man was sentenced to 180 days of incarceration on sex offense charges in Preble County Common Pleas Court Tuesday, with all but one of those days being suspended. Judge Stephen R. Bruns presided.
Beve Dean Goins, 55, was sentenced on charges of possessing criminal tools. Additional counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor, pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor and illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance were dismissed in accordance with a plea agreement between Goins and the Preble County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Goins was arrested in Dec. 2018 on charges, according to the indictment, that he “did, with knowledge of the character of the material or performance involved, solicit, receive, purchase, exchange, possess or control obscene material that shows a minor participating or engaging in sexual activity.”
The offenses with which Goins was charged allegedly took place between Jan. 23 and Sept. 25 of 2016. According to a state sentencing memorandum filed by the Preble County Prosecutor’s Office, Goins was charged after a female family member allegedly discovered a tablet belonging to Goins containing sexually explicit images of minors. Goins denied downloading the material and claimed the images belonged to other family members.
The memo further states that forensic examiners “could not say with certainty when the images were downloaded,” and that the female family member’s “motives and credibility had been called into question.”
In addition to the suspended jail sentence, Goins was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay court costs and perform 50 hours of community service.
Also in court Tuesday:
Levi Mann, 36, of New Paris, was scheduled to be sentenced on charges of theft. A warrant for his arrest was issued following his failure to appear.
Harold Swafford, Jr., of West Alexandria, pled guilty to charges of aggravated possession of drugs and aggravated trafficking in drugs. When asked by the court if anyone had made promises to him in exchange for his plea, Swafford claimed it was his understanding that he would be sentenced to two years of incarceration, though this was apparently not outlined in the paperwork submitted by the Prosecutor.
“I can assure you that the court never made that sort of representation,” Judge Bruns said, informing the defendant of his intention to order a pre-sentencing investigation. “I won’t know the sentence until after the outcome of the PSI. That’s always my policy.”
Swafford’s next court appearance is a sentencing hearing, to be held April 23.
