West Lafayette man draws a four-year sentence for sex crimes involving a minor

COSHOCTON − A West Lafayette man was sentenced Wednesday in Coshocton County Common Pleas Court for sex crimes.

Gage M. Copley, 21, was indicted in January on five counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person, second degree felonies, and three counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, fourth-degree felonies, from incidents from Nov. 1 to Dec. 1, 2023. The female victim was 15 at the time.

Copley entered guilty pleas to all charges on March 6 as part of a plea deal where the Coshocton County Prosecutor's Office agreed to take no position on sentencing or judicial release and to not oppose a pre-sentencing investigation.

Judge Robert Batchelor sentenced Copley to an indefinite term of four to six years in prison for each of the second-degree felonies and 17 months for each of the fourth-degree felonies, to be served concurrently. This is an aggregate term of four to six years in prison with the minimum term mandatory.

Copley was also granted 113 days of credit for local incarceration and will have to serve a mandatory five years of post release control. He will have to register as a Tier II sex offender for 25 years.

Copley did not speak on his own behalf in court.

Attorney Zachuary Meranda asked for the four to six year aggregate term based on his client's age and his cooperation with investigators.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Gage Copley of West Lafayette gets 4-6 years in prison for sex crimes