A North Platte man will spend the next four to five years in prison for sexually assaulting a young boy.

Last August, North Platte police opened a sexual assault investigation after the parents of a young boy reported that their son had been assaulted by 28-year-old Scott Shoemaker.

The boy, who was under the age of 16, alleged that Shoemaker had sexually penetrated him several weeks earlier.

In September, District Court Judge Donald Rowlands ordered that Shoemaker undergo a psychological evaluation, due to a potential not guilty by reason of insanity plea.

The evaluation determined that Shoemaker was competent to stand trial.

After reaching a plea deal with prosecutors, Shoemaker pleaded no contest to sexual assault of a child.

On Monday, Shoemaker appeared in Lincoln County District Court for sentencing.

Prior to sentencing, Shoemaker’s attorney, Kent Florom, argued that Shoemaker had saved the state the time and expense of a trial, and had prevented the victim from having to testify by entering a plea in the case.

He also noted that, prior to this, Shoemaker’s criminal record had been minimal.

Judge Rowlands agreed that Shoemaker’s record was minimal, and stated that, despite being found competent to stand trial, Shoemaker did suffer from mental illness.

He then sentenced Shoemaker to not less that four years, and not more than five years in the custody of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.

Shoemaker was given credit for 200 days already served in jail, and will be required to register as a sex offender.

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A western Nebraska man accused of stealing more than $580,000 worth of gas from his former employer has been convicted of two felonies.

Thirty-eight-year-old Ron Walker, of Mitchell, pleaded no contest and was convicted on Friday. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on April 2.

Walker is a former employee for Western Cooperative Co., also known as Westco. He was accused of selling gasoline under fictitious contracts to customers. Records indicate more than $580,000 was deposited into his personal checking and savings accounts since 2010.

A Rapid City man is being lodged at the Lincoln County Detention Center after police found him with a stolen vehicle in North Platte.

At around 6:45 p.m., on February 20, North Platte police were contacted by the Rapid City Police Department (South Dakota).

Rapid City police reported that a vehicle that was stolen in Rapid City, may be in North Platte.

North Platte police were able to locate the vehicle, a whit Pontiac Grand Prix, parked at Cedar Lodge, 421 Rodeo Road.

They also located the suspect, 49-year-old Eugene Leetch, of Rapid City, inside the apartment of a family member.

Following further investigation, police placed Leetch under arrest and charged him with felony possession of stolen property.

Leetch is being held on $10,000 bond.

Two juveniles are facing felony charges after they allegedly robbed another teen in a North Platte park.

At around 2:10 p.m., on February 22, the North Platte Police Department opened a robbery investigation, after receiving a report from a 16-year-old male.

The victim alleged that he was at Cody Park, 1601 North Jeffers Street, when he was assaulted and his wallet was stolen.

Through their investigation, police learned that the boy had agreed to meet with a 17-year-old Stapleton boy, and another 17-year-old boy, from North Platte.

According to the victim, he met the duo at the park and, while they were talking, one of the boys assaulted him and stole his wallet, which reportedly contained around $15.00.

Police say the boy did have injuries consistent with being assaulted.

Investigators determined that there was probable cause to arrest the teens and charge them with felony robbery.

Officer Rodney Brown says the boys were located and jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

The Post is choosing not to name the suspects, pending the filing of formal charges by the Lincoln County Attorney’s Office.

A North Platte woman is in jail on felony child abuse charges, and her husband is being sought by law enforcement, after their 2-year-old child allegedly ingested methamphetamine.

At around 10:30 p.m., on February 21, officers with the North Platte Police Department responded to the emergency room at Great Plains Health on the report of a child who had possibly ingested illicit drugs.

Hospital staff advised police that the child had been brought in by his grandparents after he began exhibiting strange behavior.

Officers became suspicious that the child was under the influence of methamphetamine, a suspicion that was later confirmed with testing.

According to Officer Rodney Brown, officers attempted to locate the child’s parents, Jesse and Sheena Mendoza, both 31, at their residence in the 2000 block of West 15th Street, but were unable to locate them.  However, officers obtained a search warrant on the residence and found evidence of drug use.

Brown said Sheena eventually arrived at the hospital, and was taken into custody.  She has been charged with felony exposure of a child to methamphetamine and felony child abuse.

Police are still attempting to locate Jesse Mendoza.

The 2-year-old child along with three other children, including a 12-year-old female, a four-year-old female and a seven-year-old female, were placed with family by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

 

GERING, Neb. (AP) — Jury selection has begun for the Gering trial of a man accused in the death of a 2-year-old girl more than six years ago.

Twenty-eight-year-old Dustin Chauncey is charged with child abuse resulting in the July 2008 death of Juliette Geurts. Chauncey had been the boyfriend of the girl’s mother, Charyse Geurts, who’s expected to testify. She’d been detained Texas, returned to Nebraska and held in Scotts Bluff County Jail as a material witness. But she’s bonded out into house arrest on conditions set by the judge.

The Scottsbluff Elks Lodge was being used for jury selection Monday because of the large jury pool and the ability for all the jurors to be questioned at one time by the attorneys and the judge rather than in shifts at a courtroom.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — State officials say the Nebraska Crime Commission has tracked down records needed to explain how 20 law enforcement agencies spent more than $13 million in federal grants over three years.

The Justice Department had told the state last fall that grant money the commission distributed from 2009 through 2011 through the federal government’s Justice Assistance Grants program wasn’t properly documented. Federal officials said that without the documentation, the state could be required to repay the money and the crime commission could be banned from acting as a go-between for federal grants.

Commission director Darrell Fisher says all the documents have been submitted.

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A sheriff says an inmate has turned himself in to authorities after not returning to jail from a work release program.

Scotts Bluff County Sheriff Mark Overman says 25-year-old James Thorpe turned himself in Saturday night to the Scotts Bluff County Detention Center.

Thorpe didn’t return to the jail earlier this month as stipulated in his work release agreement. He was serving a sentence for forgery charges.

A warrant had been issued for Thorpe’s arrest. Overman says Thorpe is expected to be arraigned on Monday.

GIBBON, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 79-year-old woman who stepped onto Interstate 80 in south-central Nebraska has been killed.

The accident occurred around 5 p.m. Sunday near the Gibbon exit in Buffalo County. The Nebraska State Patrol says Darlene Harders, of Cairo, pulled over onto the eastbound shoulder and was struck by a passing semitrailer when she got out of her car.

The accident is being investigated.

• Today: Sunny, with a high near 29. Wind chill values as low as -7. Southwest wind 6 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
• Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 15. Southwest wind 10 to 13 mph becoming west northwest after midnight.
• Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 46. North northwest wind 8 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.
• Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 24. Light and variable wind becoming west 5 to 7 mph after midnight.
• Wednesday: A slight chance of snow before noon, then a chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 40. West northwest wind 9 to 18 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
• Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 7.