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LISBON -- A Salem man sentenced to more than 41 years in prison on multiple counts of child pornography filed an appeal Tuesday to challenge the recent denial of his request to withdraw his plea.
Brian Hough, 61, previously of Monroe Avenue, had the paperwork filed with the Seventh District Court of Appeals by his defense attorney James Wise to appeal the December 2023 judgment entry and decision by Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Washam.
Washam denied the request to take back the plea, noting that the motion to withdraw plea wasn't filed until after the sentencing and some time had passed between the plea and sentencing date. He said the record of the proceedings did not support Hough's claim that health issues and pain affected his decision making on the day of the plea last year.
The charges against Hough included fifth-degree felony importuning, fifth-degree felony possessing criminal tools, 10 counts of fourth-degree felony pandering obscenity involving a minor or an impaired person and 67 counts of fifth-degree felony illegal use of minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance. 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.
According to a previous story about the arrest, investigators with 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 with the MVHTTF pretended to be 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" on March 7, 2022, leading to his arrest and the discovery of the images.