Chillicothe man sentenced in 2 Highland County cases
A Chillicothe man was sentenced to prison recently after pleading guilty to charges in two separate Highland County indictments.
As previously reported, Caleb A. Souders, 31, was indicted by a Highland County grand jury in December in two different cases.
In the first indictment, Souders was charged with failure to register a change of address as a registered sex offender, a fourth-degree felony. The second indictment was for a fifth-degree felony charge of telephone harassment. He pleaded guilty to both counts Feb. 4, according to court records.
According to a bill of particulars, it is alleged that an unknown male, later identified as Souders, called a Highland County business and “made sexually explicit comments” to an employee. During the course of that investigation, Highland County Sheriff’s deputies determined that Souders allegedly used a phone that was not included in his sex offender registration with the HCSO, then later determined that Souders had also not reported a change of address.
The indictment alleged that Souders had “a duty to register annually and 20 days before an address change and within three days of an address change” as a tier I sex offender due to a previous conviction in Ross County Municipal Court.
During a sentencing hearing March 5, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss sentenced Souders to 15 months in prison on the failure to register charge, concurrent to nine months on the harassment charge. He had one day of jail time credit.
Souders is currently incarcerated in the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
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