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Belpre man receives minimum two-year sentence in pandering case

By Candice Black 3 min read

After considering the mental status of Scott M. Dye, who pleaded guilty to four counts of pandering sexually-oriented material involving a minor or impaired person on March 28, Washington County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark Kerenyi sentenced him to two to three years in prison Monday afternoon.

Assistant Prosecutor David Silwani asked Kerenyi for a six-year prison sentence based on a similar case after hearing from two witnesses.

"I do find his mental health condition to be a factor, which is going to make me depart from what I've done previously," Kerenyi said.

Defense Attorney George Cosenza called Eric Walls with SAAR Psychological Group to the stand, and he talked about Dye's diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome and how it could have affected his behavior.

In his interview with Wells, Dye said he was downloading files to his computer to pursue his interest in computer hacking and said he was interested in a cyber investigations education.

"One (was) a massive download with a large number of files at once and within these images, he happened to come across images of child pornography. He struggled to understand that these were real," Wells said. "He denied any sexual attraction; it was more of a curiosity of fixation."

With his Autism diagnosis, Wells said Dye has tendencies to have curiosities regarding pornography but it doesn't necessarily mean there's a "deviant sexual interest," he said.

"They struggle with contextual issues and understanding consequences, understanding that there's a child there that's being victimized," Wells said. "I think he would struggle to understand that what is going on is essentially perpetrating more victims in the future."

After Cosenza's questioning, Silwani mentioned Dye had emailed himself those files and used a particular browser to search for them.

"That's partially how they caught him was through his Yahoo email account," Silwani said.

Osric Malone-Prioleau, nurse practitioner for MOV Mindfulness, testified about his interactions with Dye over six years.

"We've had many discussions of human sexuality in the past, and in no way has he been ever been attracted to (anyone) less than 18 years of age. But the other piece to it is he has a hard time understanding developmental patterns and what he's looking for," Malone-Prioleau said. "What I wonder is whether he actually understood what he saw. The second thing I would wonder is whether or not he understands what that pain actually is. He has the inability to walk where we walk because he can barely get out of his own shoes."

Malone-Prioleau also mentioned Dye's background with methamphetamine and alcohol abuse.

Dye received a two-year minimum sentence on each of two counts and a six-month definite sentence on each of the other two counts. The sentences are to be served concurrently totaling a minimum of two years and a maximum of three years. Dye must also register as a Tier II sex offender.

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