T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Scott Lewis is sentenced to six to nine years in prison Friday for possessing and sharing child pornography.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — A Martins Ferry man will spend several years behind bars after being sentenced Friday for possessing and sharing child pornography.

Scott Anthony Lewis, 32, of 106 North Ridge Road, Martins Ferry pleaded guilty in early February to three counts of second-degree felony pandering obscenity involving minors, one count of fifth-degree felony voyeurism, and 31 counts of fourth-degree felony pandering sexually oriented material involving minors.

The voyeurism charge arose from an instance in which Lewis covertly photographed an individual and shared the images. The prosecutor’s office did not share further information about the victim’s age or the circumstances of the crime so as not to compromise the victim’s identity.

Lewis entered a guilty plea Feb. 8, two hours after his trial began.

Belmont County Common Pleas Judge Frank Fregiato imposed a minimum of six years in prison and a maximum of nine years. Lewis was classified as a Tier 2 sex offender and, after release, will be required to register his address with his local sheriff’s office for 25 years.

Belmont County Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan said his office recommended the sentence, since some of the counts overlap.

“We are very pleased with this sentence of six to nine years. The judge followed our recommendation. This was an investigation that started with the Internet Crimes Against Children and then was handed off to Missing and Exploited Children in the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office. They then notified the Martins Ferry Police Department, who continued with the investigation and found incidents of child pornography on the defendant’s phone,” Flangan said.

“Through further investigation, we were able to find out that some of that child pornography was shared with other people throughout the country, so therefore we pursued an indictment for not only possessing the pornograohy, but also sharing it,” Flanagan said.