Goughnour pleads guilty to amended charges
CHLOE COCHRAN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 19 hours, 53 minutes AGO
SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint man has pleaded guilty to amended charges of injury to child after being accused of crimes that could have required him to register as a sex offender.
Jordan Conner Goughnour, 30, entered the plea during a Tuesday arraignment hearing to felony injury to child and misdemeanor dispensing an alcoholic beverage to a minor, where the victim was 17 years of age at the time of the incident.
As part of a pretrial settlement agreement, the injury to child charge was amended down from a felony rape charge. One charge of sexual battery of a child was also dismissed.
Goughnour will also not be required to register as a sex offender.
At his arraignment hearing, Goughnour admitted to having sexual intercourse with the 17-year-old and providing her with a Buzzballz, a high-percentage alcohol cocktail.
District Court Judge Lamount Berecz stated during the hearing that the description of the injury-to-child charge doesn’t fit the crime described, but both parties agreed to a stipulation of facts.
At a sentencing hearing scheduled for Nov. 3, the state is expected to recommend up to 5 years in prison for Goughnour, with 1 year fixed.
Berecz said during the hearing that he was not bound to what the state may recommend and that he could sentence Goughnour up to the maximum sentence of 10 years, which Goughnour said he was “painfully aware of.”
He is currently being held at the Bonner County Jail on a $100,000 bail.
Documents for the file are sealed due to the sensitive nature of the case, but allege that Goughnour provided alcohol to a 17-year-old before the sexual abuse took place.
Anyone who suspects sexual abuse should call the 24/7 Bonner County Sexual Abuse hotline at 208-265-3586.
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