Albany County Man Pleads Not Guilty to Sexual Abuse of a Minor, Incest
Note: The name of the defendant has been withheld in this article. The accused is not a person of public interest or public trust and a conviction or a guilty or no contest plea have not occurred. The defendant’s relationship to the victim is also identified.
An Albany County man accused of sexual abuse of a minor and incest denied the charges in Albany County District Court Tuesday, May 9.
The 36-year-old defendant pleaded not guilty to two counts of first degree sexual abuse of a minor, two counts of second degree sexual abuse of a minor and three counts of incest. If convicted, he faces more than 200 years in prison and $30,000 in fines.
According to court documents, on March 10, Laramie Police received a report from the Wyoming Department of Family Services of an inappropriate relationship between a man and his 14-year-old daughter.
An officer interviewed the alleged victim, who said her parents were separated and she had lived with her father off and on for about two years. The victim said in that time period, the defendant had on numerous occasions touched the victim inappropriately and performed sex acts on her and had asked her to do the same. The victim said the defendant also insisted that she sleep in the same bed with him, although there was a couch and another bedroom in the residence. The victim said the defendant touched her inappropriately while sharing the bed. She said the most recent incident occurred on March 4, court documents state.
Law enforcement then interviewed the victim’s mother, who said she was concerned about the defendant insisting the victim sleep in his bed but was unaware of any sexual contact. According to the affidavit, the victim’s mother said the defendant had told her he had read an article claiming it was alright if a father slept with his daughter if the daughter consented to have sex with him. The mother said she believed the defendant read this article online.
Court documents state police interviewed the defendant as well, who admitted to having his daughter sleep in his bed with him and said he was “cuddling” and “snuggling” with his daughter. The defendant also told officers he regularly views pornography portraying incest on several websites.
On March 10, Laramie Police executed a search warrant of the defendant’s Laramie residence and found there to be two fully-equipped bedrooms and a futon style couch as well as female adolescent undergarments by the defendant’s bed and in a pile of predominantly male clothing, court documents state.
Safe Harbor interviewed the alleged victim again on March 21 and the victim told Safe Harbor the same things she told the officers. She said her father had committed sexual acts on her “almost every day” and that he had started when she was about 10 years old and had continued with increasing frequency until the present day.
The defendant remains incarcerated on a cash bond. His trial is set for Nov. 1 through Nov. 3.