Staff photo / Chris McBride Trent Addicott stands beside attorney Jeff Goodman, where Addicott was sentenced Tuesday to 24 to 28 years in the courtroom of Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Ronald Rice.

WARREN — A Howland Township man, whose actions “deeply disturbed” the court, was sentenced to 24 to 28 years in prison after being convicted on multiple charges including child pornography, child abuse and sexual misconduct with an animal.

Trent Addicott, 27, of Fairview Avenue, appeared before Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Ronald Rice Tuesday, a week after a one-day trial concluded in the same courtroom.

The jury deliberated for 30 minutes before convicting Addicott on four counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and two counts of pandering obscenity to minors, all second-degree felonies, and five misdemeanor charges of sexual misconduct with an animal.

At sentencing, Addicott’s attorney, Jeff Goodman, argued against a notion expressed in the sentencing memo of his client where Gabe Wildman, prosecuting attorney, stated Addicott showed no remorse.

Goodman argued Addicott has taken full responsibility for his actions, citing his cooperative behavior during the investigation and his willingness to accept a significant sentence in a plea agreement.

Furthering his argument, Goodman also mentioned during closing statements he did not argue the factual basis of several charges, showing his client had a desire to accept responsibility.

The defense also challenged the prosecution’s request for consecutive sentences, arguing that the harm caused does not warrant such a penalty, and the misdemeanor charges against his client, particularly those involving sexual misconduct with an animal, should be viewed in context.

Goodman told the court that his client’s behavior was not criminal in Ohio until 2017 when the law was changed; however, due to issues with how the law was enacted, it was initially invalidated and only became enforceable in 2021.

The attorney pointed to the prosecution’s reference in a sentencing memo to outdated laws from the 1940s as irrelevant, as the conduct wasn’t criminalized in Ohio from 1974 until the new law took effect.

The judge ultimately sentenced Addicott to an indefinite sentence, highlighting the mental injury suffered by the victim and the “limited” responsibility, among other factors.

A tearful Addicott briefly addressed the court apologizing to his family for his actions and telling the court he’ll work toward bettering himself.

Rice gave a strong rebuking of the actions Addicott was convicted of. “You have ruined your family and permanently tarnished your reputation. You did all this to gratify your own perverted sexual desires,” he said.

The judge told the defendant his actions were among the most displeasing he’s had to witness in his courtroom in the last 32 years.

Closing his remarks to Addicott, Rice said, “You are now a registered sex offender. You may never see your daughter again, and you are losing your freedom. You are the reason our society has laws for registered sex offenders.”

Authorities became aware of Trent Addicott when a cyber tip came into the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which reviewed the material before contacting the Howland Township Police Department. The information was traced back to Addicott through an email, IP and personal address, along with a cellphone number.

A search was conducted at Addicott’s Fairview Avenue residence on May 30, where the videos were filmed by Addicott.

Howland police detective Nicholas Brancaccio said a nervous, but cooperative, Addicott willingly provided information that any evidence of “child sex abuse material” investigators were looking for were located on an iPad.

After reviewing the material, Brancaccio testified he was able to identify Addicott by facial recognition of him and the minor depicted in the video, along with identifiers from the home matching the images he took during the search. Addicott was arrested and placed into the Trumbull County jail on a $500,000 bond.

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