By Stephen Floyd
A Silverton man has pleaded guilty to attempting to lure minors into sexual acts and similar charges and could face nearly 16 years in prison.
Jaiden Ethan Davis, 24, pleaded guilty Sept. 25 in Marion County Circuit Court to attempted first-degree unlawful sexual penetration, first-degree encouraging child sex abuse and four counts of luring a minor. He was otherwise scheduled for a trial beginning Oct. 23 on 25 separate counts of sex offenses involving five underage victims.
Davis admitted to sharing sexually explicit images with four underage males between 2017 and 2019 with the goal of inducing them to have sex. He also admitted to attempting to digitally penetrate a fifth male victim in 2019 while the victim was incapacitated, and to sharing images of child pornography between 2020 and 2021.
He is scheduled for sentencing March 21, 2024, before Judge Daniel Wren. Prosecutors are seeking up to 15 years and eight months in prison, while the defense plans to ask for probation.
When asked about this delay in sentencing, Marion County Deputy District Attorney Brendan Murphy said his department does not comment on specific cases. He said, generally speaking, a sentencing hearing is set out this far when the defense is making preparations to argue for mitigating factors.
Davis was arrested Oct. 15, 2020, after authorities received reports he had sexually abused or assaulted three of the victims. Further investigation revealed two other victims and sexually explicit images of minors on Davis’ phone.
Davis has been out on $140,000 bail since Feb. 1, 2021, with orders to have no contact with minors except as approved by the court or access to the internet, and with a GPS monitor.
