Willmar man sentenced to 25 years in prison for fourth sexual assault conviction
Aug. 5—WILLMAR
— A Willmar man who is already serving prison time for three criminal sexual conduct cases involving young girls has now been convicted and sentenced in a fourth case.
On Tuesday, Jeramy John Wharton, 44, was sentenced in Kandiyohi County District Court to 300 months, or 25 years, with credit for 987 days served. He was convicted of one felony count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Wharton will serve the sentence concurrently with his other prison terms. He is currently in custody at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Moose Lake.
Under Minnesota law, offenders must serve at least two-thirds of a sentence in custody and may serve the rest on supervised release.
Once released, which is listed for July 2036, Wharton will be under conditional release for 99 years. He has also must register as a predatory offender.
According to court documents, Wharton engaged in multiple acts of sexual abuse with a girl younger than 13 years old.
Originally, Wharton was facing eight felony charges of first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Under a plea agreement, he entered a Alford plea of guilty in May to the one count, and the remaining charges were dismissed.
A defendant who enters an Alford plea does not expressly admit guilt but acknowledges the state has sufficient evidence to prove guilt.
In the interview with the police detective, the girl said that Wharton would molest her and rape her while she was bathing. The abuse took place regularly for about a year, the girl said.
The abuse was first reported to law enforcement in November 2019, though the abuse took place between 2014 and 2016. When the allegations were made, Wharton was already in prison serving 12 years for
molesting two girls, impregnating one of them
.
On May 5,
Wharton was sentenced to three years and eight months
on a felony charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim younger than 16. In March,
he was sentenced to three years
for initiating sexual contact with a victim when she was 10 or 11 years old.
