By Dave O’Brien
Record-Courier staff writer
A Kent man was arraigned Thursday on a charge that he allegedly called the Portage County Courthouse in Ravenna and falsely reported that he killed a 14-year-old girl.
Portage County Sheriff David Doak said that Cedric E. Dukes, 35, of 730 Longcoy Ave., told a court clerk by phone July 29 that he had committed a murder.
The sheriff’s office was able to trace the call back to Dukes and arrest him for telecommunications harassment, a fifth-degree felony, according to Doak.
Dukes was arraigned Thursday in Portage County Municipal Court in Ravenna, where Acting Portage County Municipal Court Judge Steve Smith set a bond of 10 percent of $25,000.
If convicted in the most recent case, Dukes faces up to one year in prison and $2,500 in fines. A preliminary hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. Nov. 13.
Dukes already has one conviction for telecommunications harassment and an additional case pending in the Portage County court system, Doak said.
In addition to the harassment charges, Dukes has a considerable criminal record in Portage County, according to online court records.