Sentencing delay in lewd conduct cases
Keith Kinnaird News Editor | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 years, 6 months AGO
SANDPOINT — Sentencing hearings for two Bonner County men being prosecuted separately for child molestation are being postponed due to delays in obtaining presentence reports.
Joshua James Olson was scheduled to be sentenced on Monday and Shardan Cody Patterson was scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday. But the hearings in 1st District Court are being pushed into the fall due to delays in obtaining presentence reports from the Idaho Department of Correction.
The reports are used by judges to determine an appropriate sentence. They consist of an interview by an IDOC official and a detailed review of a defendant’s criminal and social history, education, physical and mental health, and community support systems.
Only the court, the defendant and the attorneys handling a case are privy to the results of the presentence investigation.
Both Patterson and Olson remain held at the Bonner County Jail.
Patterson’s sentencing was reset for Sept. 17, while Olson’s was reset for Sept. 19, court records show.
Patterson, 28, of Sandpoint, was charged with two counts of lewd conduct. He is accused of sexually abusing a Bonner County girl from 2003 to 2009, when she was between the ages of 8 and 15. He was also accused of molesting a 3-year-old boy in 2010, in addition to the meth charge.
In an agreement with the state, Patterson pleaded guilty possessing meth and entered an Alford plea to one of the lewd conduct counts. Under the latter plea, a defendant admits no wrongdoing but concedes the state could prevail at trial.
In exchange for the pleas, the second lewd conduct count was dismissed.
Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall is recommending a five- to 15-year sentence on the lewd charge plus a concurrent sentence on the drug charge. Patterson’s counsel remains free to argue for a lesser sentence.
Olson, 27, of Clark Fork, is accused of molesting a girl from 2010 to 2013 year. He was also charged with possession of child pornography for allegedly taking photographs and shooting video footage of the sexual abuse.
A plea agreement in Olson’s case dismissed the child pornography charge in exchange for a plea to the lewd conduct charge. However, court documents indicate Olson could still be prosecuted for possession of child pornography at the federal level.
The state is recommending a sentence of 20 years to life in the Olson case, according to court documents.
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