YOUNGSTOWN — The young victim of Rickie Salus wrote a short statement that was read to the judge Tuesday before Salus received a 5 to 7 1/2 year prison sentence.

Salus got 558 days he spent in the Mahoning County jail awaiting trial deducted from his sentence.

Salus pleaded guilty Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to soliciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, known as importuning, a high-level felony offense; attempted gross sexual imposition; disseminating matter harmful to juveniles; and misdemeanor public indecency.

“During the incident, I felt uncomfortable, scared and I didn’t know what to do,” the child’s statement read. “After the incident, it made me feel unloved, depressed, and I don’t know what to do because I am just a kid. And you did all of that to me.”

Salus, 39, of the Maplecroft Manufactured Home Community in North Lima, committed the offenses from Jan. 1, 2023, to Aug. 31, 2023, according to his indictments.

Salus also spoke, saying “To the child, I want to say I am very sorry for what I have done.” Salus speaks with a childlike, quiet voice. “I am sorry I destroyed his life. I’m sorry that I didn’t mean to do what I have done. With all of this, I know it was wrong,” he said.

“I don’t want to do this again. I did it again because I was selfish, and I was not thinking in my right mind at that time,” he said.

When Salus referred to committing such offenses “again,” he was referring to having pleaded guilty in 2018 to similar offenses against another child less than 13 years old. That time, he got six months in jail and was placed on probation for five years.

He had been off of probation two years when he committed the new offenses against a different child less than 13.

Salus is now a tier 2 sex offender who has to register his address every 180 days for the next 25 years. He had an earlier sex registration requirement for the earlier convictions.

Salus has been in the Mahoning County jail since Dec. 15, 2023. Visiting Judge Timothy McGinty, a former Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge, handed down the sentence.

Salus was evaluated for his competency to stand trial and found not competent in the current case. Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Donofrio ordered Salus to be treated at a state mental hospital for six months. After that time, Salus was deemed restored to competency, and the case resumed.