Downing man sentenced to 6 years in prison and 6 years of extended supervision for child assault
By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A 30-year-old Downing man has been sentenced to six years of initial confinement and six years of extended supervision for the second degree sexual assault of a child.
Brian T. Kerns appeared in Dunn County Circuit Court for a sentencing hearing with his attorney Scott Schlough before Judge Rod W. Smeltzer July 17.
During a plea hearing March 6, Judge Smeltzer accepted Kerns’ plea of no contest, found him guilty of second degree sexual assault, which is a Class C felony, and dismissed four other felonies and one misdemeanor that were read into the record for sentencing.
Kerns also was charged with two other Class C felonies, two Class D felonies and one misdemeanor related to the sexual assault of a girl who was 15 when the assaults started and 16 when they ended.
Judge James Peterson set a cash bail of $25,000 at a November 20, 2017, hearing and ordered Kerns to have no contact with any girls under the age of 18.
At the time of July 17 sentencing hearing, Kerns remained in custody at the Dunn County jail.
Judge Smeltzer granted Kerns 253 days of credit for the time he has been held at the Dunn County jail.
In addition, Judge Smeltzer ordered Kerns to pay $268 in court costs, a $250 DNA surcharge and $1,155 in restitution.
The restitution is to be paid through wages Kerns makes while incarcerated.
Judge Smeltzer also ordered Kerns to have no contact with juvenile girls without approval from the Department of Corrections, to maintain employment, to complete a sex offender assessment, and to follow through with programming deemed necessary by the Department of Corrections.
Kerns also much register as a sex offender, and he cannot possess a firearm and cannot vote.
According to the criminal complaint, the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department had learned about a woman who had reported to the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department that Kerns was engaging in inappropriate text messages and possibly had sexual contact with a teenaged girl.
When deputies were attempting to locate Kerns and checked the residence in Downing, they learned Kerns had left suddenly and that Kerns and his fiance had traveled to Arkansas in an attempt to flee the area, knowing Kerns was going to be taken into custody for sexual assault, according to the complaint.
A jury trial had initially been scheduled for Kerns later in March.
At the March 6 plea hearing, Judge Smeltzer ordered a pre-sentence investigation (PSI). The PSI was filed with the court July 5.
An alternate PSI was filed with the court July 16, and Judge Smeltzer issued an order July 17 sealing the alternate PSI.
The victim and the victim’s father also filed a victim impact statement with the court July 17.
Dunn County District Attorney Andrea Nodolf had asked that Kerns be sentenced to 10 years of initial confinement and 10 years of extended supervision.
Schlough, Kerns’ attorney, recommended four or five years of initial confinement and four or five years of extended supervision, to withhold sentencing and to order Kerns to spend one year in the county jail with Huber privileges, to have no contact with minor females, except his fiance’s family, have no contact with the victim, to register as a sex offender and to have a psychiatric evaluation.
