Matthew Kelledes of Flora,37, was sentenced to eight years in jail Thursday for an attempted kidnapping.
Effingham authorities said that incident happened in January at a motel along Avenue of Mid America in Effingham, where Kelledes tried to steal a child under two years old.
They said before the police arrived on the scene, a fight broke out between Kelledes and the motel staff.
The child was not harmed and Kelledes will be placed on one-year mandatory supervised release once out of prison, officials said.
Kelledes was on parole before the attempted kidnapping for a drug offense and for violating an order of protection, Effingham police said.