A man accused of child neglect pleaded guilty this week in Warren County Circuit Court.

Shawn Wright entered a plea of guilty to child neglect charges Thursday in front of Circuit Court Judge Toni Terrett.

The charges stem from an incident in October 2023 in which Wright was babysitting an 8-year-old child. Police became involved when the child was taken to the emergency room at Merit Health River Region. Bruising on the child’s face and arms led police to question Wright, who admitted he had taken the child with him to a hotel room where he used methamphetamines. Wright’s sentencing is set for July 17.

Also on Thursday, Brandon Harper pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance. Warren County Assistant District Attorney Branan Southerland said Harper was found with less than 30, but more than 10 grams, of cocaine in September 2023. Harper has two previous convictions for possession of controlled substance.

Although Harper’s attorney Daniel Edney argued for drug court intervention, Terrett ultimately decided to sentence Harper to 20 years, with 10 years to serve and 10 years suspended with court costs and fines to be paid.

Ricky Turner faced revocation of his sentence of statutory rape on new charges of failure to register as a sex offender. Turner, who has one year left of a suspended five-year sentence, was given a new five-year suspended sentence.