Change of Plea Hearing Held in District Court for Imprisoned Sheridan Man

A change of plea hearing was held Tuesday in Fourth Judicial District Court for a Sheridan man currently serving time at the Wyoming State Penitentiary. Sheridan Media’s Ron Richter has the details.`

]’At the hearing, 28-year-old Caleb Morel, appearing via video conference from the Wyoming State Penitentiary, pleaded guilty to three counts of first degree sexual abuse of a minor. The guilty pleas were pursuant to a plea agreement that was reached with the State that recommends a prison sentence of not less than 15 and not more than 25 years in prison for each of the three charges and to run the sentences concurrent to one another and concurrent to the prison sentence he’s currently serving. 
The crimes occurred between March of 2013 and March of 2015 when Morel sexually abused a child a number of times at a residence in Sheridan County. The victim was between three and four years of age at the time and Morel was between 16 and 17 years of age. The victim reported the sexual abuse to a social worker in April of 2023 and an ensuing investigation led to Morel being charged with the three felonies.

District Court Judge Darci Phillips ordered that a presentence investigation be completed by the Department of Corrections Division of Probation and Parole and scheduled the sentencing hearing for Tuesday,  December 10 at 11 am. Morel was convicted of second and third degree sexual abuse of a minor in September of 2022 in District Court in Sheridan and sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing children at a daycare facility in Sheridan during a period of March 2019 through January 2022.

Also from District Court:

On May 17, 2024, Sheridan Police arrested Jade Roundstone for an altercation that started over a “twerking” battle at a residence on Canby Street where Roundstone allegedly brandished a knife in a threatening manner and battered several people during the incident. At an arraignment hearing on July 9 in Fourth Judicial District Court in Sheridan, Roundstone pleaded not guilty to one count of felony aggravated assault and battery and two counts of misdemeanor battery.

A three-day jury trial is scheduled to begin November 12. District Court Judge Darci Phillips, at a hearing Tuesday, said the trial remains a #3 stack trial and that if neither of the two cases ahead of the Roundstone trial are resolved in the next few weeks, Roundstone’s trial date will have to be moved. If convicted on all three counts, Roundstone faces up to 11 years in prison and fines of up to $11,500.