A Carson man accused of videotaping sexual performances with a young girl has entered conditional guilty pleas to nine felony sex charges.

Michael Scholes Sr., 35, entered the pleas to South Central District Judge Tom Schneider Wednesday afternoon at the Burleigh County Courthouse.

Acting Grant County State's Attorney Jim Vukelic said Grant County Sheriff Steven Bay applied for a search warrant of Scholes's home after learning about the possibility of videotapes being in the home of Scholes having sexual contact with a young girl.

Scholes was charged on Dec. 8, 2006, with two counts of gross sexual imposition, both Class AA felonies, and two counts of using a minor in a sexual performance, both Class B felonies. He was charged Jan. 2 with two additional counts of Class AA felony gross sexual imposition and two additional counts of Class B felony using a minor in a sexual performance.

Vukelic said those charges are for videotaped incidents in which Scholes had sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old girl on four occasions in August and October 2006.

Scholes also was charged in January with one count of Class Afelony gross sexual imposition for having sexual contact with the same girl in October 2001, when the girl was 6 years old.

A conditional guilty plea means a defendant can appeal a district judge's pretrial decision to the Supreme Court after entering the guilty plea. If the Supreme Court overturns the judge's decision, the defendant can withdraw his guilty plea and take the case to trial.

In this case, Vukelic said Scholes and his appointed defense attorney, Kent Morrow, plan to appeal a denied suppression motion. Morrow had moved to suppress the videotapes found in Scholes dresser drawer.

Scholes cannot appeal the case to the Supreme Court until after sentencing, which will occur after a presentence investigation is conducted. Schneider ordered the investigation to include a psychological evaluation and sex offender risk assessment.

Scholes has been held in the Mercer County Correctional Center on $500,000 cash bond since his arrest in December. He appeared in the custody of the Grant County Sheriff's Department.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)