BELLEVUE — A man with a history of sexual offenses was sentenced to six months in county jail by a Huron County Common Pleas Court Judge.

Art Price Jr., 40, of the 100 block of Brinker Street, pleaded no contest Wednesday in front of Judge James Conway to three misdemeanor charges including disseminating matter harmful to a juvenile, and two counts of public indecency, according to court records.

After spending six months in the county jail, he also is required to undergo psychiatric treatment, serve three years of probation and pay a fine of $1,500, Huron County Prosecutor Russ Leffler said.

Price was arrested March 20 by the Bellevue Police Department after a confidential source saw Price in the middle of a sexual act using a metal table, and reported him to the police.

Price originally faced four charges of public indecency in March. Those charges were dropped in early April, after Leffler reviewed the case and determined that the charges and act didn’t match.

“I had a difficult time finding the charges,” Leffler said. “It was either too strict or not strict enough.”

Price’s attorney, John Allton, could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

Price has prior convictions for public indecency, voyeurism and criminal damaging that occurred in Tiffin and Bowling Green dating back to the late 1980s.

One of the past offenses occurred in 1989 in Tiffin, when Price was caught performing a sexual act in a utility closet.

None of his convictions have forced him to register as a sex offender.

“I tried to get him to be a registered offender,” Leffler said. “The Adam Walsh (Act) is tough.”

But Leffler said that he is pleased with Conway’s sentence.

Source: thenews-messenger.com