By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A 48-year-old Boyceville man found guilty by a Dunn County jury on two felony counts related to child sexual assault has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of extended supervision.
Timothy Scott Cocherell appeared with his attorney, John Leunig, for a sentencing hearing before Judge James Peterson November 17 in Dunn County Circuit Court.
Cocherell was found guilty on both felony counts following a three-day jury trial that began on August 31. The jurors were excused for deliberation around noon on September 2 and returned with verdict a little more than two hours later, according to online court records.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim told an officer from the Boyceville Police Department that Cocherell had been sexually assaulting her since she was 12 or 13 years old.
According to a victim impact statement read into the court record by Dunn County District Attorney Andrea Nodolf, the victim struggles with sleeping, has an anxiety disorder and suffers panic attacks if it is too warm outside to wear the clothes she feels comfortable wearing.
The victim also said she is afraid to make new friends because she does not know what they might do to her, according to the statement Nodolf read.
The victim was afraid to report the sexual assaults because she was worried no one would believe her, said Dunn County Assistant District Attorney Megan Kelly, noting that the victim’s coping mechanism was self-harm.
Cocherell expresses no remorse and does not have a sense of responsibility for his crimes, Kelly said.
Letters of support for Cocherell have been received from family and friends. His family said he did not commit the crimes for which a jury found him guilty, and the defendant does not think he needs treatment, she said.
Kelly recommended sentencing Cocherell to 10 years of initial confinement and fives years of extended supervision on the first count and recommended five years of initial confinement and five years of extended supervision on the second count, with the sentences to be served consecutively.
Family members who gave statements to the court described Cocherell as considerate, kind, hard-working, compassionate, loving and respectful of authority.
Clean record
Cocherell has no criminal record, Leunig said.
He is hard-working and responsible and is the kind of person who will help his neighbors, he said.
Cocherell should be punished, but the punishment should not ruin his future, Leunig said.
The defendant has not violated the conditions of his bail, and he can be rehabilitated in the community. The pre-sentence investigation (PSI) concludes that Cocherell is a “low risk” to the community, he said.
There is treatment available for people who deny that they have sexually assaulted someone, Leunig said.
Leunig recommended that Cocherell be sentenced to six to eight months in the Dunn County jail with stringent conditions for probation after he serves the jail sentence.
Serious charges
Cocherell also took the opportunity to address the court and said he knows he was convicted of “serious charges.”
The last 70 days have been “hard on me” physically and emotionally, he said.
Following the jury’s verdict on September 2, Judge Peterson revoked bail, and Cocherell was taken into custody.
Bail was set for Cocherell with a $1,000 signature bond in May of 2019.
Cocherell, who addressed the court in a quavering voice, asked the judge to sentence him to six to eight months in the local jail and said he would be willing to pay restitution to the victim and would be willing to follow any other terms of probation.
Sentence
Judge Peterson reiterated that Cocherell had been found guilty by a jury on two Class C felony charges.
The state legislature has determined that child sexual assault is a serious crime that is punishable by up to 40 years in prison on each count, which in this case, would be 80 years in prison, he said.
The jury rejected the idea that the victim was a troubled girl who was not telling the truth. Maybe she was troubled because of the sexual assaults, Judge Peterson said.
The jury’s verdict was unanimous, and in this day and age, it is difficult to get 12 people to agree on anything, the judge said.
Judge Peterson said he does not doubt all of the good things people say about Cocherell, but the victim sees him differently.
On the other hand, Cocherell’s family will think that he has been wrongly convicted forever, Judge Peterson said.
The seriousness of the offense calls for a prison sentence, he said.
On the first count, Judge Peterson sentenced Cocherell to 10 years of initial confinement in state prison and five years of extended supervision, and on the second count, the judge sentenced Cocherell to five years of initial confinement and five years of extended supervision, to be served concurrently with the sentence on the first count.
Judge Peterson ordered Cocherell to be evaluated for programming and treatment during extended supervision, noting that prison personnel will determine the appropriate treatment during Cocherell’s time in prison, and also ordered him to register as a sex offender, to have no private contact with anyone under the age of 18, to have no contact with the victim without the approval of Cocherell’s probation agent and the victim, and to pay $518 in court costs and DNA surcharge.
Cocherell also cannot vote in any elections and cannot possess any firearms.
