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LISBON -- A Salem man who stopped his trial last month by pleading guilty to 79 felony counts, mostly dealing with child pornography and an attempt to meet a juvenile boy for sex, learned his fate on Monday, as Judge Scott Washam sentenced Brian Hough, 61, whose last known address was Monroe Avenue, to over 40 years in prison.
Hough took little to no responsibility for his crimes during a 30-minute address to the court prior to his sentencing, insisting that he did "nothing wrong" and claiming that the 16,000 images of child pornography discovered cataloged on his computer, were there because of an investigation on his behalf "to take the website down" from which he downloaded the images
"They thought I was just some pedophile that got off at looking at younger kids. Well, in fact, that's totally the opposite," Hough argued. "I never touched or hurt anyone in my life."
Judge Washam admonished Hough for what he called "a lack of remorse", and his accessing, viewing and ultimately downloading thousands of obscene images of boys ages 9- to 14-years old.
"Why would anyone save these images, Mr. Hough, except so that they could be viewed and reviewed over and over and over again?" Washman said.
On March 7, 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 discovered his possession of pornographic images involving children upon his arrest.
Hough pleaded guilty to importuning, a fourth-degree felony, and possession of criminal tools, a fifth-degree felony, both related to the arrangement to meet the agent.
He also pleaded guilty to 10 counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person, a fourth-degree felony, and 67 counts of illegal use of a minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance, a fifth-degree felony.
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.
Judge Washam followed the prosecution's recommendation and sentenced Hough to consecutive terms on most counts with Hough to serve a total of 41 years in prison, citing what he considered Hough's likelihood to reoffend. Hough is also required to register as a Tier Two sex offender.
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 then posed as 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.
The state agreed to dismiss the second count of the indictment, a fourth-degree felony of attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
selverd@mojonews.com