EFFINHAM COUNTY — A 37-year-old Flora man was sentenced Thursday in Effingham County Court to eight years in prison after he pleaded guilty to one of three counts in a case charging him with attempting to take a girl under the age of 13 from an Effingham hotel.

Matthew Kelledes pleaded guilty Thursday to Class 1 felony aggravated kidnapping in exchange for charges of Class 2 felony attempting to disarm an officer and Class 3 felony aggravated battery being dismissed.

Kelledes was arrested in January in the lobby of an Effingham hotel. He’s accused of attempting to take a girl under the age of 13 from the hotel. He reportedly was then involved in a physical altercation with hotel staff and patrons before police arrived. The child was unharmed.

His eight-year sentence will be served concurrently with a two-year sentence in a 2019 case out of Clay County for meth possession and violation of a protective order.