Man pleads guilty to minor sex abuse, DUI charges
Sep. 24—CHEYENNE — A local man admitted Thursday in Laramie County District Court to repeatedly sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl.
William Lawrence Dolan, 26, pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual abuse of a minor and felony driving under the influence, fourth offense or greater, as part of a plea agreement.
The charges to which Dolan pleaded are in two separate cases. Two additional charges of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor in the first case would be dismissed at sentencing, per the agreement, along with misdemeanor driving while under suspension, speeding and three counts of child endangering in the second case.
The state will recommend a sentence of six to 10 years in prison for the sexual abuse charge, according to the agreement. For the DUI charge, the state will recommend three to five years in prison, to run consecutively with the sexual abuse sentence.
Dolan and his attorney are free to argue for any sentence, including probation.
Laramie County District Judge Peter Froelicher set Dolan's sentencing for Jan. 13.
On July 21, 2020, the victim in the sexual abuse case, who was 15 years old at the time, went to the Cheyenne Police Department building to report a sexual assault, according to court documents. The girl said Dolan, who was 25 at the time, had been staying with her family from April through June of that year. The girl told a Cheyenne police officer that she and Dolan had sexual intercourse at least 20 times during that period, along with other sex acts.
During an investigation, a Cheyenne police detective found several text messages between the girl and Dolan. In some of the messages, Dolan said he was worried that the girl's mother would go to law enforcement or "get (him) in trouble," according to court documents.
Dolan was eventually charged on Dec. 22.
In the DUI case, a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper pulled over a vehicle driven by Dolan on Dec. 9. Dolan had been driving 85 miles per hour in a 65 mph zone, according to court documents. Three children under the approximate age of 5 were passengers in the car, and the trooper smelled alcohol.
Dolan told the trooper he'd consumed two shots of vodka about two hours before being stopped. He refused to give a breath sample, so his blood was later drawn at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center after the trooper obtained a warrant.
Dolan had five prior convictions for driving under the influence in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019, and was serving a four-year probation sentence at the time for a previous felony DUI conviction, according to court documents.
Hannah Black is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's criminal justice reporter. She can be reached at hblack@wyomingnews.com or 307-633-3128. Follow her on Twitter at @hannahcblack.
