When cops arrested Portsmouth residents Nathaniel Fodge and Andrea Crager on child sex charges, it made news all over the country.
Fodge, 38, was hit with an astonishing 54 counts of sexual battery and 54 counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor as well as child-endangering charges. Crager, 38, was charged with complicity to sexual battery, complicity to unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, and child endangerment.
Now, 19 months after police discovered the crime, the trials are finally over, but did the pair get off easy after copping pleas?
The court dismissed the unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and sexual battery charges against Crager in May of 2022. Crager pleaded guilty to child endangerment in February of 2023 and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. However, she was granted judicial release in July. Though she will be on probation for the next two years.
The Scioto County Prosecutor’s Office asked the court to dismiss many of the against Fodge in May of 2022. The sexual battery case went forward with court dates canceled and rescheduled multiple times and multiple motions filed to dismiss the charges.
Then, last week, court records show Fodge was ready to make a plea deal and he asked for permission to withdraw his original not-guilty plea and plead guilty to 2 counts of sexual battery which would require him to register as a sex offender for life.
The court sentenced Fodge to five years in prison.