ST. CLAIRSVILLE — A woman will spend three years under the watchful eye of the justice system after she was sentenced this week for gross sexual imposition committed against a young boy.

Morgan Ashton Hood, 19, of 807 Grant Ave., Martins Ferry was sentenced for the felony offense that involved a male victim younger than 13 years old. The incident occurred Jan. 27. Hood was sentenced to three years of community controls and up to nine months in jail with credit for 164 days served. She will also spend six months in the Eastern Ohio Correction Center. A violation of terms of her community controls would mean up to five years in prison. She was designated a Tier 2 sex offender.

Her defense lawyer asked Belmont County Common Pleas Judge John Vavra to consider Hoodás largely law-abiding life and mental and emotional issues before passing sentence. Hood also apologized.

âIám very sorry for the crime I committed. It will never happen again,ã she said.

Vavra pointed out that Hood claimed to have been under the influence of alcohol when the crime took place in Martins Ferry. He also referred to psychological evaluations in which she tested at a third or fourth grade level, with a cognitive ability and educational skills in the borderline to mildly impaired range.

âThe reason youáre not going to the reformatory for women is because of your mental health situation,ã Vavra said. âI am not convinced that you understood the wrongfulness of what you did.ã

In unrelated cases, Michael Justin Hannan, 35, of 310 31st St., Bellaire self-terminated from drug court and was given three years of community controls. He will serve up to six months in jail with credit for 64 days served and six months at EOCC. He originally was convicted of one count of burglary and one count of theft in an incident that occurred Sept. 18, 2011. The defense asked Vavra to consider that Hannan struggles with addiction.

Kristin Nichole Rayner, 23, of 207 Whitey St., Bridgeport was sentenced to one year of community control sanctions for forgery in a Sept. 22, 2015, incident. A violation would mean a sentence of up to 12 months.

No plea agreement could be reached in the case of Aaron Franklin Riley, 43, incarcerated, facing a charge of theft that allegedly occurred Sept. 29. His trial remains set for July 20. Riley already is serving a sentence for several counts of theft that occurred July 21, 2015. Riley had operated a tree-trimming service and had taken money for work without performing the services. The crimes occurred across Belmont County. The current charge stems from those earlier incidents.

Andrea M. Shamhart, 23, incarcerated, was sentenced after violating her probation. She was convicted of burglary, a felony of the third degree occurring Aug. 28, 2015, and sentenced to 18 months in prison with credit for 258 days served. She also was convicted of tampering with evidence on Jan. 26, 2016, and was sentenced to 36 months with 73 days credit. Her sentences will be served concurrently for a total of three years with credit for 258 days served.

Seth A. Shumaker, 31, of 57961 Jarrods Song Road, Belmont was sentenced to 30 months in prison for theft in a Sept. 2, 2010, incident. He was given credit for 28 days served. Vavra pointed out that Shumaker also had pleaded guilty to a count of possession of criminal tools in Athens County, Ohio, in June 2016.