gaylordhub.com

An eight year prison sentence. That was what Judge Thomas G. McCarthy handed Kevin Jones Wednesday as he convicted the former Gaylord man of first degree criminal sexual conduct.

The ruling came Wednesday in Sibley County District Court, just one block away from where Jones once served as Sibley East’s transportation director.

Last fall, Jones was charged with five counts of criminal sexual contact after he reportedly had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old female student from Sibley East. According to court reports, that relationship lasted for nearly two years. Jones served as the student’s transportation director, a bus driver for her athletic events, and as a supervisor during the girl’s summer employment at school.

Jones, 47, was later charged in March, 2009, for violating a restraining order when he attempted to contact the victim via the computer.

A month later Jones pled guilty to one count of first degree criminal sexual conduct and a misdemeanor for violating a restraining order. That set the stage for last week’s sentencing which lasted approximately four hours.

Although there were nearly 40 people in attendance, many of whom were family members and supporters for the parties, there were many moments of silence throughout the sentencing.

The first testimony was provided by a computer forensic specialist from Carver County. He was called to the stand by attorney Donald Lannoye, of Schauer Law Office in Winthrop.

According to the computer forensic specialist, there were four computers and 1 or 2 cell phones seized following the charges against Jones. He testified that a Sibley East school computer, with the user account of K. Jones, had a large history of viewing pornographic web sites.

That testimony was followed by statements made by the victim and her parents. All three urged Judge McCarthy to follow State Sentencing Guidelines (8 years in prison) because Jones pled guilty and justice needed to be served. They said Jones was supposed to protect our youth, but instead he broke that obligation for his own sexual gain.

The Court then heard testimony from a psychologist who conducted a psychosexual assessment on Jones at the request of Jones’ attorney Jeffrey DeGree. That psychologist, who met with Jones on two occasions, listed several reasons why he labels him a “low risk” to reoffend. He said Jones was a candidate for treatment and he had already been accepted into an appropriate program (Project Pathfinder) which has effectively treated and rehabilitated sex offenders.

The psychologist agreed with DeGree’s statement that Jones would likely not receive treatment with a prison sentence. He would be considered a low priority in the prison system because of the low risk threat, the psychologist explained.

Lannoye questioned Jones’ truthfulness during the evaluations and the psychologist agreed that the tests conducted are “certainly not foolproof.” After listing some of Jones’ reported actions, Lannoye compared the behavior to that of a sexual predator and the psychologist eventually agreed.

Another assessment was conducted on Jones in May. The person that conducted the assessment diagnosed Jones with a major depressive disorder but said he appears to be on the way to recovery. He too listed Jones as a low risk to reoffend and a low priority for supervision.

Before final arguments were made by the attorneys, Jones made a statement. He said words can’t describe his sorrow. Jones said he disgraced his family and did not manage the relationship appropriately. He said that this was not a pattern of behavior for him and hoped in time he could be forgiven.

In his closing argument, Lannoye stated that there were no reasons to depart from State Sentencing Guidelines in this case. He believes Jones is a sexual predator and needs to be in prison to protect the community.

Jones’ attorney said it was a tragic situation all around and it caused a lot of damage to a lot of people. DeGree said what Jones did was inappropriate, but being called a sexual predator doesn’t match the facts in this case. He said this is an “unusual case” and and “isolated incident.”

According to DeGree, the most unique thing in this case was the death of Jones’ daughter. She was killed in a car accident several years ago while travelling to school on icy roads. This incident led Jones into a depression in which DeGree described as a substantial factor in this case.

DeGree believed Jones was amenable to probation and there had already been significant punishment already.

McCarthy disagreed with DeGree. He mentioned Jones’ disregard to the restraining order before announcing his ruling. McCarthy also said the reasons for departing from State Sentencing Guidelines did not apply in this case.

McCarthy ordered Jones to serve 144 months in State Prison. The defendant was also convicted on a charge of misdemeanor violation of a restraining order. He was given a 90 day concurrent sentence for that violation.