A 33-year-old Rapid City man could face life in prison after being convicted of raping a 9-year-old girl at a slumber party.

A jury found Jeremy Bauer guilty on Thursday after about four hours of deliberations. He is to undergo a psychological evaluation before being sentenced in about two months.

Authorities said Bauer raped the girl at his home in April 2012, then tried to convince her she was just having a nightmare.

His defense unsuccessfully argued during trial that physical evidence of a crime was lacking.

A state lawmaker who wants to abolish Nebraska’s death penalty will present his repeal proposal to a state panel next week.

Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha will offer the bill Wednesday to the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee.

Chambers is an outspoken death-penalty opponent who has repeatedly tried to end the practice. He returned to the Legislature after a four-year hiatus imposed by term limits.

His measure would replace the death penalty with a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. In the bill, Chambers rails against the death penalty as a failure that has harmed the state’s reputation for fairness, decency and respect for human dignity.

The bill is co-sponsored by three other senators, who along with Chambers make up half of the committee.

Two teenagers have been accused of selling marijuana-laced brownies to other students at Norris High School in the southeast Nebraska town of Firth.

The boys, ages 14 and 16, were cited by deputies and released to their parents.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says a search of the 16-year-old’s vehicle turned up seven uneaten brownies.

Deputies think brownies were sold to three students. Principal Ryan Ruhl says the brownie buyers and sellers will face sanctions under the school’s policies.

The Army has more than doubled its number of military and civilian behavioral health workers in the past five years, but a new report says a litany of shortcomings plagues the force when it comes to diagnosing and treating soldiers for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The report being released Friday says confusing paperwork, inconsistent training and guidelines, and incompatible data systems have hindered the service as it tries to deal with behavioral health issues.

Last May, the Army commissioned a task force to review how it evaluates soldiers for mental health problems.

The review came under pressure from Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, of Washington, who was upset to learn that hundreds of soldiers at Madigan Army Medical Center south of Seattle had their PTSD diagnoses reversed by a forensic psychiatry team.

 

The jury in the case of a former Omaha middle school teacher accused of molesting students has begun deliberations.

Shad Knutson’s trial began nearly two weeks ago.

Prosecutors say the 36-year-old Knutson molested or had inappropriate relationships with five girls ages 13 to 15 from 2008 through 2010 while a social studies teacher at Nathan Hale Magnet Middle School. He’s charged with five felony counts, including sexual assault of a child.

Knutson took the stand Wednesday, denying the charges.

Prosecutors had considered bringing charges against Omaha Public Schools officials for not reporting students’ complaints about Knutson to police, but opted not to after the district made changes to its child abuse reporting policy.

 

A former medical office administrator in Lincoln has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of wire fraud.

54-year-old Royann Schmidgall had faced 15 counts, but prosecutors have agreed to drop all but one in exchange for her plea on Thursday.

Prosecutor Alan Everett says there’s also an agreement that Schmidgall should face no more than 18 months in prison. The charge carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.

Prosecutors say Schmidgall handled payroll and other administrative duties at Nebraska Pulmonary Specialties for 15 years. Nebraska Pulmonary Specialties says in its pending lawsuit against Schmidgall that she embezzled nearly $634,000 over several years.

A 27-year-old Nebraska woman accused of having sex with her teenage stepson has made a deal with prosecutors and pleaded no contest to sexual assault.

Prosecutors had lowered the charge and dismissed an incest charge in exchange for her plea on Thursday.

The Associated Press is not naming the Grand Island woman to protect the identity of her stepson.

Police say the boy was 15 when his stepmother began having sex with him. Investigators say the boy’s father called police to report he had seen his wife having sex with the boy, who is 16 now.

Her sentencing is scheduled for May 8.

A nanny has been charged with child abuse in the death of a 4-month-old Omaha boy.

Authorities say 24-year-old Sarah Cullen, of Omaha, was taken into custody on an arrest warrant Thursday night.

She’s accused of shaking or otherwise causing a massive head injury to Cash Bell, who lived with his parents in west Omaha.

Chief Deputy Marty Bilek says Cullen took the boy to a hospital on Feb. 28. He was soon flown to Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha, where he died on Tuesday.

A jailer said Cullen remained in Douglas County Jail on Friday. Online court records don’t list the name of Cullen’s attorney.

Venezuela’s acting president says Hugo Chavez’s embalmed body will be permanently displayed in a glass casket so that “his people will always have him.”

Vice President Nicolas Maduro says the remains will be put on permanent display at the Museum of the Revolution, close to the presidential palace where Chavez ruled for 14 years. Maduro says the president will lie in state first for at least another seven days.

A state funeral for Chavez attended by some 33 heads of government is scheduled to begin Friday morning. Tens of thousands have already filed past his glass-topped casket at a military academy following a seven-hour procession on Tuesday which took his body from the hospital where he died.

A Ravenna man has received two years of probation for threatening to kill another man.

35-year-old Jason Schaub was sentenced Tuesday in Buffalo County District Court on charges of third-degree assault and carrying a concealed weapon.  District Judge John Icenogle ordered Schaub to serve 30 days in jail as a condition of his probation.

According to Court records, on September 2, a citizen reported that Schaub was intoxicated and approached the an approached his tent at a camp ground near Ravenna.  When the man asked Schaub to leave, he became angry an threatened him.

At this time, another man arrived and pulled Schaub away.  He then told the men that he was going to stab them.

A friend eventually convinced Schaub to leave.  A short time later, local law enforcement located him and placed him under arrest.