SCIOTO COUNTY- A local man convicted of two counts of sexual battery was in court this week for a judicial release hearing. Instead of being released into the general public, he will continue serving out the rest of his term at STAR Community Justice Center.

Jason Meadows, 48, was a volunteer for the Minford Local Schools marching band when he was arrested and indicted on three counts sexual battery, one count of pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor, and one count of disseminating matter harmful to a juvenile.

As part of a plea agreement in 2018 and prior to a jury trial, Meadows pleaded to the two counts of sexual battery and the other charges were dismissed. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. He has served seven of those years under the agreement, which included judicial release.

“Without getting into too much detail, in an effort to avoid embarrassment to the victim, this matter was an agreed judicial release,” said Scioto County Prosecutor Shane Tieman, who was not in office at the time of the plea agreement but is familiar with the case. “Mr. Meadows served close to seven years of his eight-year sentence. With the judicial release he was not released from confinement but was sent to serve additional time in the STAR Community Justice Center. He will be subject to serving his remaining time in prison if he fails to abide by the conditions of STAR and his community control.”

Meadows’ judicial release hearing was Thursday, March 14, in the Scioto County Court of Common Pleas. He is currently incarcerated at Chillicothe Correctional Institution.

Reach Lori McNelly at [email protected] or at (740) 353-3101 ext. 1928. © 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved