Sandusky man pleads guilty to attempted kidnapping

SANDUSKY — A Sandusky man could face up to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty in his child sex crimes case. At a court hearing on Thursday, Xavier M. Scott, 29, of the 800 block of W. Market St., pleaded guilty to one amended count of attempted kidnapping, a second-degree felony. Scott pleaded guilty to the one lesser amended charge in exchange for the following four felony charges to be dismissed: • Two counts of gross sexual imposition, each a fourth-degree felony • One count of kidnapping, a first-degree felony • One count of attempted rape, a second-degree felony Due to Scott's plea, he could potentially be sentenced to a maximum sentence of eight to 12 years in prison. Scott's guilty plea form shows that both his lawyer and the prosecution have agreed to a sentence ranging from at least six years to no more than seven-and-a-half years, according to court records. But the judge in the case, Beverly McGookey, ultimately decides on whether or not to follow that recommendation. Scott was scheduled to be sentenced on the same day as his guilty plea. As of Tuesday afternoon, his sentencing sheet had not been published in the county's online court records system and requests for the document to the court were not answered by deadline Tuesday. Background According to Scott's indictment, the alleged crimes occurred on or about Feb. 22, 2024, when Scott engaged in sexual contact with someone "less than 16 years of age" and involved a complaint that a girl was in a motel room with multiple people and that one of them was attempting to rape the girl. Rotuno said that the girl traveled from Norwalk to meet up with a friend, and after hanging out for a while, her friend had to leave. The girl tried to arrange a ride back to Norwalk but was unable to find a ride. The girl ended up passing out and woke up a short time later to Scott allegedly engaging in a sexual act with her and prevented her from leaving, Rotuno said. Police said Scott could be seen on motel surveillance running shortly after the girl did, and officers located him a short time later and arrested him.