COSHOCTON − A Warsaw man whose trial for sex crimes ended in a hung jury in April was sentenced as part of a plea deal Tuesday in Coshocton County Common Pleas Court. However, there was dispute over the parameters of the plea deal from the defense.

Cameron Hague, 39, was arrested in March 2022 by the Coshocton County Sheriff's Office following an investigation into a sexually-related complaint. Hague was indicted in April 2022 with 10 counts of gross sexual imposition for incidents from Dec. 21, 2013, to Dec. 19, 2018. The indictment said the juvenile victim was from 8 - to 13-years-old at the time.

After the trial, Coshocton County Prosecutor Ben Hall (then assistant prosecutor) said a new trial would be scheduled for later in the year.

On April 27, Hague entered a guilty plea to count one of the indictment in exchange for the other charges being dropped. As part of the plea deal, the prosecutor's office didn't object to a pre-sentence investigation and agreed to a joint recommended sentence of community control sanctions, or probation. Judge Robert Batchelor sentenced Hague to three years of community control sanctions and 180 days of local incarceration in the Coshocton Justice Center. He was granted two days for local incarceration. Hague will have to register as a Tier II sex offender for 25 years.

Any violation of terms of the probation could see the term extended or Hague receiving anywhere from 12 to 60 months in prison. Part of the terms was for Hague to have no contact with the victim, no contact with females under 18-years-old, to undergo any recommended treatment program and for the probation department to have access to any of his electronic devices at anytime along with other standard terms and conditions.

Defense attorney Kristopher Hill of Zanesville said he was given an "assurance" from Hall via email that there would be no prison or jail time and this was discussed in a pre-trial conference with Batchelor in private in the judge's chambers.

"The only reason we took this plea and agreed to this plea back and forth was the assurance, and I understand the court can do what it wants, that there was no jail and no prison," Hill said in open court. "That's why we're here. Otherwise we wouldn't have taken the plea."

Batchelor reviewed the transcript of the change of plea hearing and officially the record didn't state anything about no jail or prison time. He also didn't believe what Hill recalled from the private conversation was accurate either. Additionally, Batchelor by law is under no obligation to follow the sentencing recommendation and could have imposed any sentence, including prison time.

"From the record, there was nothing in the change of plea hearing concerning no local incarceration, in fact the court did emphasize to the defendant he could still receive a prison sentence, that the joint sentencing recommendation was not a promise by council," Batchelor stated.

Hall during the trial said the girl, who is now 17, was inappropriately touched by Hague underneath her clothes on multiple occasions at two different locations. A key piece of evidence was a 47-minute control call with Hague where the teen tried to get him to apologize for touching her and she asked him questions about incidents. Authorities listened in.

Hill said his client never admitted to directly touching the victim on the call. He only apologized for general touching and anything he's ever done wrong. This was after repeatedly refuting any wrongdoing. Hill called the phone call a "recorded interrogation by deception." Hague never confessed to sexual touching of the victim in a interview with Det. Adam Mast either.

"We could try the case 10 times and we may wind up with the same result each time. The court recognizes that it is a futile effort at obtaining justice," Batchelor said.

Hague did not speak at the sentencing hearing. The victim was present and did make a statement. It is the policy of the Tribune not to name sex crime victims or give identifying information.

Batchelor, reading from the pre-sentence investigation, said Hague made an admission of guilt. He quoted Hague's written statement of "I never planned for this to happen. I am sorry that it did and I take responsibility for it. It's a mistake that will never happen again."

He also read Hague's answer to a question on how he believed the victim felt during the offense. The answer was "horrible, scared."

"Mr. Hague, you did that. You committed the offense. You admitted to it through a plea of guilty and through your comments in the pre-sentencing investigation," Batchelor said in court.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Warsaw man sentenced for gross sexual imposition