Jay Greenwood and his defense attorney.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The trial of Jay Greenwood ended Tuesday when he pleaded guilty on two amended charges of sexual battery. He will be sentenced Thursday.

Greenwood, 61, is a resident of Lafferty and a longtime employee of the Belmont County Buildings and Grounds Department.

He had been accused of rape and gross sexual imposition against three females, all of whom were younger than 13 when the alleged crimes occurred.

The week-long trial began Sept. 20 and included testimony from the three victims as well as family, friends and Greenwood himself, who took the stand Thursday.

Cross-examination of the defendant had been scheduled for Friday, to be followed by closing arguments and deliberation by the jury.

But Greenwood did not appear in court Friday and was determined to be unavailable due to medical issues after deputies went to his home seeking him. On Friday, the court ruled Greenwood’s trial would continue Tuesday, but the defendant decided to plead guilty to the amended charges.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of five years each, for a total of 10 years if the sentences are set to run consecutively. Belmont County Prosecutor Dan Fry said his office will ask that the full 10-year sentence be imposed.

“We have minimal good-time credit now, so whatever sentence he gets he will do,” Fry said.

Assistant Prosecutor Scott Fry noted that the amended charges more closely reflect the nature of the crimes.

“Sexual battery consists of having sexual relations, more than touching, with someone without their consent,” Fry said, adding that the victims agreed to the amended charges.

“It gives our victims some closure,” Fry added. “This (charge amendment) was done with their approval and consent. It takes away any uncertainty that any jury trial gives us. It allows them to go home today knowing that he’s facing 10 years in the penitentiary, knowing that there can be no appeals of his pleas, and knowing that they won’t get a phone call years down the road telling them that we have to go back to court. So the finality for them, I think, should be a great comfort to them. We’re satisfied with the plea. We’re satisfied with the sentence exposure that he faces. He’s 61 years old now. If he were to get the 10 years, he’ll be 71 before he’s permitted out.”

Fry said the two charges of sexual battery represent all three victims.

“There were multiple instances that we believe took place between March of 1996 and March of 2000. The two counts that he pled to don’t attach themselves to any individual day,” he said. “He had three victims, he ended up pleading to two. What we were looking for was something that the victims would accept and allow them to have closure and a sentence exposure.”

Fry noted his office was prepared to continue to cross-examine and wrap up the case when Greenwood decided to plead guilty.

“I don’t know what was going through his mind. I don’t know why he approached us with regard to a plea. I don’t know whether he sat for four days in the trial and observed the circumstances that concerned him as far as where the jury would go in the end,” Fry said.

Fry noted that prosecution of the case involved several difficulties in terms of the time that had passed before disclosure by the victims. He credited law enforcement and the prosecutor’s office with compiling the necessary evidence. He also credited the victims for coming forward.

“They were the ones who were strong throughout this thing. They were willing to come into court and testify as to what he did to them. I give them great credit. I give Assistant Prosecutor Scott Lloyd a lot of credit. He worked diligently on this case and prepared it for trial,” he said. “Keep in mind that these charges go back 20 years. Trying charges that allegedly occurred 20 years ago, that’s very difficult to do.”

Fry acknowledged there was a lack of medical and forensic evidence, which meant that the trial hung on the testimony of the witnesses.

“There was delayed reporting, but there are reasons for that and I fully understand why this wasn’t made known to responsible individuals until it was, and the jury understood that. I believe that the jury understood these victims are traumatized and/or threatened by the perpetrator of the crimes, sometimes they feel that they have no choice, so I give them great credit for coming forward when they did. But the truth is, when you go back 20 years and attempt to prove criminal charges that require us to prove to any criminal jury beyond a reasonable doubt, unanimously, those always aren’t slam-dunk cases. So we knew going in that our evidence consisted primarily, if not entirely, of simply our three victims testifying as to what he did to them. We were confident. We believed them. We believed the jury would believe them, so we went forward with the case.”

A pre-sentence investigation and victim impact statement were ordered to be completed prior to Thursday’s sentencing hearing. Greenwood will be designated a Tier 3 sex offender.