Man gets decades in prison for child sex assault

SANDUSKY — A Sandusky man will spend decades in prison on child sex charges. On Thursday, Erie County Court of Common Pleas Judge Roger Binette sentenced Darius Knight, 32, of Barker Street, to a term of 39 to 44 years in prison. In April, a jury convicted Knight on a first-degree felony count of kidnapping and three other felony counts — two counts of gross sexual imposition and one count of importuning. The sentence also included a specification that Knight is a repeat violent offender. Knight was accused of luring an 11-year-old developmentally-delayed girl into his home in August 2019. The girl was going door-to-door by herself asking for donations. Knight lured the girl into his home, claiming he would donate to her cause, and then sexually assaulted her. While investigating Knight's case, authorities determined Knight was living within 1,000 feet of a daycare — he was a registered sex offender from a prior court case and thereby prohibited to live that close to a daycare or school. Erie County Sheriff Paul Sigsworth said a mapping program they use for sex offender registrations did not list the daycare Knight lived near and, as a result, Knight was living within the 1,000-foot radius and his agency did not notify the daycare or the surrounding neighborhood of him residing there. Sigsworth said that his agency took steps to verify each local school and daycare property in that mapping program to "ensure this doesn't happen again." At Thursday's sentencing, Erie County assistant prosecutor Paulette Lilly listed Knight's criminal history, which included sexual assaults, failure to register as a sex offender and a conviction for attempted rape. "I think he is predatory, Your Honor," Lilly said to Binette. Knight's attorney, Bryan Lamb, asked Binette to merge some of Knight's four charges for sentencing. Binette said he considered the request but chose not to do so, and also pointed to Knight's past criminal history. "It's interesting, Mr. Knight, that the state used the word 'predatory' … the court used that word in its notes as well," Binette said. The judge read the definition of the word "predatory," turned to Knight and said, "That's what you did here." The victim was not present for Knight's sentencing and no victim impact statement was read on her behalf. Knight also did not make a statement when given an opportunity to do so. Knight will get credit for 632 days spent in jail. He will also be classified as a Tier III sex offender, meaning he must register every 90 days for life when he's released from prison. Lamb said that Knight plans to appeal.