MONROE - A New Glarus man was sentenced to a year in jail and 12 years of probation Wednesday on charges of having sex with an underage girl.
Dustin Kenneth Weber, 34, appeared in court on a Class D felony count of child enticement and two Class G felony counts of third-degree sexual assault.
Weber was charged in February 2016 after Department of Justice investigators found sexually explicit Facebook correspondence between him and a Belleville teenager from 2014.
According to the victim's testimony, she met Weber for sex multiple times between October 2014 and March 2015. Weber claimed he was unaware of the victim's age, although Rock County Circuit Judge James Daley said that, having met the victim, it would be impossible for a person to reasonably mistake the victim for an adult woman.
Assistant State Attorney General Shelly Rusch recommended a withheld sentence of 10 years probation, conditional on serving one year in jail. Rusch said a pre-sentencing investigation determined that Weber had a strong opportunity for rehabilitation and that his behavior was not that of a sexual predator.
However, Rusch added that Weber's actions went beyond a mere "poor choice," and were instead an "antisocial, deviant and felonious pattern of behavior."
Robert Duxstad, the Monroe attorney representing Weber, recommended a sentence of only five years of probation with nine months of jail time, based on the results of the pre-sentencing investigation and Weber's cooperation with police throughout the case.
The victim's mother made a statement via telephone, calling Weber a "pathetic loser" and expressing her hope for a long prison sentence, saying to Weber, "I hope for the rest of your life you're looking over your shoulder."
For his part, Weber said little, merely apologizing for his actions and saying he had "learned a valuable lesson."
Daley said Weber's sentence would serve as an example to his community of the consequences of exercising poor judgment. He also said that, should Weber fail to meet the conditions of his probation - which include having no contact with the victim or her family, or with any minors other than his own children - the court would "drop on you like a ton of bricks."
Weber's jail term will begin within the next 60 days.
Dustin Kenneth Weber, 34, appeared in court on a Class D felony count of child enticement and two Class G felony counts of third-degree sexual assault.
Weber was charged in February 2016 after Department of Justice investigators found sexually explicit Facebook correspondence between him and a Belleville teenager from 2014.
According to the victim's testimony, she met Weber for sex multiple times between October 2014 and March 2015. Weber claimed he was unaware of the victim's age, although Rock County Circuit Judge James Daley said that, having met the victim, it would be impossible for a person to reasonably mistake the victim for an adult woman.
Assistant State Attorney General Shelly Rusch recommended a withheld sentence of 10 years probation, conditional on serving one year in jail. Rusch said a pre-sentencing investigation determined that Weber had a strong opportunity for rehabilitation and that his behavior was not that of a sexual predator.
However, Rusch added that Weber's actions went beyond a mere "poor choice," and were instead an "antisocial, deviant and felonious pattern of behavior."
Robert Duxstad, the Monroe attorney representing Weber, recommended a sentence of only five years of probation with nine months of jail time, based on the results of the pre-sentencing investigation and Weber's cooperation with police throughout the case.
The victim's mother made a statement via telephone, calling Weber a "pathetic loser" and expressing her hope for a long prison sentence, saying to Weber, "I hope for the rest of your life you're looking over your shoulder."
For his part, Weber said little, merely apologizing for his actions and saying he had "learned a valuable lesson."
Daley said Weber's sentence would serve as an example to his community of the consequences of exercising poor judgment. He also said that, should Weber fail to meet the conditions of his probation - which include having no contact with the victim or her family, or with any minors other than his own children - the court would "drop on you like a ton of bricks."
Weber's jail term will begin within the next 60 days.