A rural Rio man will serve three years probation after pleading no contest to two felony charges last month.
At an Aug. 11 plea sentencing hearing in Columbia County Circuit Court, Ty Kearney, 22, Rio, plead no contest to second degree sexual assault of a child and exposing genitals/pubic area/intimate parts to a child.
Judge W. Andrew Voigt found Kearney guilty on the second charge and accepted a deferred prosecution agreement on the sexual assault charge.
According to the criminal complaint, Kearney was charged in July 2014 after investigators said he had sexual contact with, and fondled, a 15-year-old girl while in his vehicle in the town of Wyocena. In the complaint, Kearney admitted to the sexual contact however said he thought the girl was 16 years old. Kearney was 21 at the time.
According to court records, Kearney will serve three years probation, submit a DNA sample and attend and comply with sex offender treatment, however he doesn’t need to register as a sex offender at this time. Kearney must also not have contact with the victim or be within 1,000 feet of her residence.
Probation violations could lead to a guilty sentence for the sexual assault charge which carries 40 years in jail.
“I would just like to first start off by apologizing for what I’ve done and for the family that it’s affected, also mine, with all the stress and hardship and other things that put them through,” Kearney said at the Aug. 11 hearing. “I would just like to apologize for everything.”
A written victim impact statement was submitted to the court by the victim’s mother.
Assistant District Attorney Brenda Yaskal said Kearney had no prior criminal convictions and will walk out of the courtroom as a convicted felon.
“That is significant, and he’s going to be on probation for the next three years supervised as a sex offender,” Yaskal said. “He will have some very strict rules and restrictions placed on him for the next three years... This is a significant sentence for this offense. I believe it’s appropriate considering what is charged here.”
According to the court transcript, Kearney’s defense attorney Nicholas Gansner said the courtroom was “very nearly filled” with family and community members.
“All of that is to show, I believe, that (Kearney) has extraordinarily strong support here in the community,” Gansner said.
Voigt stated it is rare that his courtroom has that many people who aren’t there for their own court appearances.
“I hope you understand that every single person in this room has been impacted by your behavior,” Voigt said the Kearney. “This is a far reaching event.”
“It’s sometimes easy to get lost in the shuffle that there really is a victim here, and the impact on her life, the impact on how her family operates, the impact upon their daily lives is something that I am sure is difficult for you, sir, to comprehend,” Voigt continued.
When discussing the deferred prosecution agreement, Voigt again addressed Kearney in the courtroom.
“This is your opportunity to prove that this was a one-time deal, this is not who you are, this is not who you are going to be, that this is not the kind of image or reputation you want in the world...” Voigt said. “...If you mess it up, you are going to sit in that chair again, I’m going to have 40 years in Wisconsin State Prison to talk about.”
