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Offender Sentenced for Unlawful Sexual Conduct with a Minor

Offender Sentenced for Unlawful Sexual Conduct with a Minor

The age of consent for sexual activity in Ohio is 16. That means if you are an adult you cannot have sex with a 15-year-old. It doesn’t matter if the child ‘actually’ consents to the activity – the child cannot ‘legally’ give consent. So, even if the child says “Yes,” even if the child initiates sexual activity, even if the adult and child are in a dating relationship – the sexual activity is illegal. Period. 

You’d think someone previously charged with crime of unlawful sexual conduct in a different county would know this – even if that charge was later dropped as part of a plea agreement. But this lesson was apparently lost upon 22-year-old Tristan Xavier Holstein who was found in the bedroom of a 15-year-old girl engaging in sexual activity by the girl’s grandmother.  Law enforcement recovered graphic text messages Holstein had written to the girl detailing the sexual acts he intended to perform as well telling the girl, “I really can’t wait till you turn 16.”

Holstein had been charged with the same crime in another county, but that charge was dropped after he pleaded guilty to illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material.  There, he was sentenced to community control and ordered to a residential sex-offender treatment program at a Community Based Correctional Facility in February 2022. 

Holstein’s crime in Union County occurred in November 2022.  He was indicted for and pleaded guilty to Unlawful Sexual Conduct with a Minor.  Because the other jurisdiction dismissed the prior charge, the crime was a felony of the fourth degree with a maximum possible sentence of 18 months. 

This week, Holstein was sentenced to a term of 15-months in prison for his crime.  Upon his release from prison, Holstein will serve a 5-year period of post-release control and will be required to register for 25 years as a Tier II sex offender.

Probationer Sent to Prison For Bringing Drugs to Jail

When you are on probation, arrested for a probation violation and transported to jail, it’s probably best not to try to sneak drugs into the correctional facility.

Keith David McCoy discovered the wisdom of this after being sentenced to eighteen months in prison after he was caught smuggling a baggie of suboxone into the Tri-County Regional Jail. McCoy (37) of Richwood was on probation for a period of 5-years for a 2017 conviction for the crime of theft from a person in a protected class and forgery when he stole over $17,000 from his grandmother.

Following his conviction, McCoy was placed in drug court and was in and out of jail after several community control violations, ultimately doing a stint in West Central Community Correction Facility. Before the termination of his community control by the court, McCoy was arrested for a community control violation in February of 2022 and taken to jail by probation officers. There he was searched by jail staff and found to have a plastic baggie with suboxone hidden in his sock. McCoy attempted to convince officers the baggie contained a band-aid. Forensic testing by BCI showed the substance was, in fact, drugs.

McCoy was indicted by the Union County Grand Jury and charged with Illegal Conveyance of Drugs, a felony of the third degree and misdemeanor possession. He pleaded guilty to the charges in May of 2023. On, July 5, McCoy was sentenced by Judge Mark O’Connor to a term of 18 months in prison for the conveyance of drugs into Tri-County. McCoy was sentenced to an additional 180-day jail term for drug possession which, by law, must be served concurrently with the prison term.

Many offenders in jail have a substance abuse disorder. Transporting drugs of any kind into a prison or jail not only affects security, safety and order of the facility but can also adversely affect detainees whose addiction was a driving factor behind their incarceration. It is a serious crime, and one which we do not take lightly.