As reported by the Carlton County Pine Journal, a 47 year-old man that had been charged with six counts of criminal misconduct three years ago, for incidents occurring ten years ago, has pleaded guilty in a plea deal.
Spiritwood, N.D., resident M.O. entered his guilty plea – to one count of second-degree sexual conduct before Carlton County Court Judge Dale Wolf – one week prior to when his case had been scheduled to go to court for trial.
M.O. originally faced three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The charges were in regards to engaging in sexual penetration/contact with a person less than thirteen years of age.
M.O. faced an additional three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 16 years of age. In these charges M.O. was accused of engaging the youth in multiple acts over a lengthy period of time.
In May 2010 a juvenile told his school counselor that M.O. had been continually sexually abusing him. The victim said that the abuse began when he was 5 or 6 years old and continued until he was about 12; the timeline was between January of 1997 and January of 2005.
M.O. was then contacted and interviewed by the authorities.
M.O. was accused of sexually fondling the youth in the family's deer stand in Barnum – M.O. had resided in Barnum at the time. Further abuses allegedly occurred in another deer stand, a home in Cloquet, and a family cabin near Barnum.
In all, the victim recounted several occasions in which he was abused, including performing oral sex on M.O. and being massaged by M.O.
The incident involving the massage was recounted in court. The victim said that about 10 people, besides himself, witnessed M.O. massage the victim's right hip. Allegedly the victim had been complaining of muscle soreness, prompting the massage by M.O., however, the victim felt that at some point the massage had grown sexual and asked M.O. to stop.
Defense Attorney Sonia Sturdevant asked M.O., "You found out later that day that [the victim] believed the rub had turned sexual?" M.O. answered, "Yes."
Assistant Carlton County Attorney Michael Boese then asked, "You understand that the massage was inherently sexual in nature, your hand on [the victim's] buttocks with no clothes in between?" M.O. again answered, "Yes."
The prosecution and defense agreed to a plea agreement that allowed for a reduced sentence of one year and a day – which would be stayed – and three years of supervised probation.
As the sentence is stayed M.O. doesn't have to register as a sex offender where he resides.
Before M.O. is sentenced he has been required to go through a psychosexual evaluation. Any recommendations made as a result of the evaluation can affect his sentencing.
Boese said that there were a couple of factors that made the case difficult: the defendant went through four defense attorneys because of position turnover, as well as the length of time between when the crimes were committed and when the defendant was charged.
According to Boese the victim had tried to block all memory of the abuse. Boese commented, "The victim was remembering events that occurred up to a decade before."
If you have been charged with a crime, whether the alleged incident occurred today or ten years ago, you can get the best possible outcome if you contact a criminal defense attorney for help!
