A Howell man will serve jail time and probation for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and using extortion against her by way of nude photographs.

18-year-old Scott William Minton learned his sentence Thursday from Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Michael Hatty. Court records indicate Minton was sentenced to five years of probation with the first year to be served in the county jail. He pleaded guilty as charged last month to a count of assault with intent to commit sexual penetration and an added count of attempt to commit sexual penetration.

In exchange for Minton’s plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the eight remaining felonies Minton originally faced, which included 1st degree criminal sexual conduct and extortion. Minton, who was 16-years-old at the time of the incident, agreed to be sentenced as an adult and to not attend the same school as the victim. Minton is also required to register as a sex offender for life.

Charges were filed last year after Minton was accused of using extortion to force a 16-year-old girl he went to school with to perform sexual acts multiple times between April and May of 2017. He is said to have demanded sex from the victim and threatened to share explicit photos of her if she did not comply. The incidents are said to have occurred on property adjacent to Howell High School.

Though Minton was a minor at the time of the incidents, he was charged as an adult. Livingston County Prosecutor Bill Vailliencourt previously told WHMI while it isn’t common practice to charge a juvenile as an adult, his office will do so when the circumstances are appropriate. (DK)