Jonathan Eugene Loper, 21, of Dayton, pleaded guilty Oct. 15 to one count of attempted aggravated sexual battery in connection with a series of sexual assaults last summer against a 9-year-old boy.

Loper was originally charged with seven counts of aggravated sexual battery, a Class B felony, on July 3, 2006. But Assistant District Attorney Jim Pope agreed to reduce the charges to a single count of attempted aggravated sexual battery, a Class C felony, in exchange for a guilty plea in order to save the victim the trauma of a trial.

Circuit Court Judge Thomas W. "Rusty" Graham accepted the plea entered by Loper and his attorney, Mechelle Storey.

Graham sentenced Loper to one year in the Tennessee Department of Corrections followed by four years of probation and 100 hours of community service.

Loper must begin serving his sentence Nov. 1, according to the Rhea County Circuit Court Clerk's office.

The 9-year-old boy, who resided with his parents in the same apartment complex as Loper last year, told Dayton Police Department Investigator Darrell Bell that Loper had molested him 10 or 11 times. The child told Bell he had been going to Loper's apartment to play video games when the assaults occurred.

Bell said Loper was afterward transported to the Dayton Police Department, where he gave a recorded statement that he had molested the child seven times.

John Carpenter can be reached at jcarpenter@xtn.net.