Hearing Held for Sheridan Man Charged With Sexual Abuse of a Minor

A change of plea hearing was held Wednesday in Fourth Judicial District Court for a Sheridan man charged with sexual abuse of a minor. Sheridan Media’s Ron Richter has the details.

Pursuant to the terms of a plea agreement reached with the State, 36-year-old Andrew Martin entered a plea of guilty to the charge of second degree sexual abuse of a minor, which is a felony punishable by not more than 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The State is recommending a sentence of 4 to 7 years in prison, suspended in lieu of four months in jail and five years of supervised probation. The plea agreement is non binding, meaning the Court can reject the plea deal altogether at sentencing. The defendant will also be able to argue for a lesser sentence at the hearing as well. District Court Judge Ben Kirven ordered that a presentence investigation be completed and said that sentencing will take place within the next 60 days.

According to court documents, Martin was charged with the crime for allegedly having sexual contact with a girl under the age of 16 when he was 33 years of age. The Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation in July of 2022 after receiving an intake report from the Department of Family Services. The investigation led to Martin’s eventual arrest.

Other District Court News:

An order to show cause hearing was held Wednesday in Fourth Judicial District Court in Sheridan for Brandy Bailey. The State recently filed a petition to revoke Bailey’s order of release for allegedly violating her $10,000 unsecured bond that was previously set in Circuit Court by testing positive for Marijuana three times since April 12. Bailey, at Wednesday’s hearing, denied that she’d violated the terms and conditions of her bond. District Court Judge Ben Kirven said an adjudicatory hearing would be set in the future where both sides will present their arguments.

In April, Bailey pleaded not guilty to two counts of delivery of a controlled substance to a minor –  Marijuana. The alleged crimes took place on October 7, 2022 in Sheridan County. A three-day jury trial remains scheduled for September 25 and a pretrial conference is on the court docket for August 24 at 9 am. Each count carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000