Man pleads no contest to sexual battery, gets 5 years

A Proctorville man has been found guilty of sexual battery.

Thomas Butler, 46, of 549 Township Road 1233, pleaded no contest to the charge and was found guilty in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court Wednesday. Judge Charles Cooper sentenced Butler to five years in prison and required the manto register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Butler’s victim was a female minor who was in his care.

Also during court Wednesday, Linda McCann, 49, of 493 Township Road 107, pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated drug trafficking charges.

Judge D. Scott Bowling also sentenced McCann to a one-year license suspension, a fine of $12,500 and ordered her to pay court costs.

McCann apologized to Lawrence County citizens, and her family.

“You will never see me in this court again,” McCann said.

Johnny L. Stapleton Jr., 28, of 4006 Gartrell Avenue, Ashland, was sentenced to three years in prison for three counts of trafficking in crack cocaine.

John S. Ackison, 24, of 605 S. Tenth St., Ironton, admitted he violated the terms of his community-controlled sanctions and was sentenced to eight months in prison. Ackison tested positive for cocaine and failed to report to the adult probation department.

Tyler Layne, 26, of 2436 S. Fifth St., Ironton, admitted he violated the terms of his community-controlled sanctions by testing positive for Oxycontin.

Layne was sentenced to two years in prison with credit for time served.