Prison Sentence Handed Down for Sheridan Man Charged With Multiple Felonies

A Sheridan man was sentenced for multiple felonies Tuesday in Fourth Judicial District Court. Sheridan Media’s Ron Richter has the details.

In March of 2020, 37-year-old William Ziska was arrested and charged with 12 counts of Felony Voyeurism and one count of Sexual Exploitation of Children for installing a video camera in the  ceiling vent of a bathroom at a residence in Sheridan. The criminal activity occurred between February 19 and March 22 of last year.  In January, Ziska pleaded “no contest” to all 13 charges. The pleas were not part of a plea agreement with the State.

A sentencing hearing was held Tuesday in Fourth Judicial District Court in Sheridan. The hearing, which lasted a little over 2 ½ hours, consisted of testimony from one of the victims of the crimes, three victim impact statements and testimony from Sheridan Police Detective Karla Rogers, who was the lead detective in the case against Ziska.

District Court Judge John Fenn sentenced Ziska to 1 ½ to 2 years for each of the 12 counts of Felony Voyeurism, concurrent to one another, and 7 to 10 years for the Sexual Exploitation of Children charge, which will run concurrent to the sentences for voyeurism. The sentence equates to Ziska serving 7 to 10 years in prison. He received 373 days credit for time served. Judge Fenn also ordered Ziska to pay $2,725 in various court costs and fees and $719 in restitution to the Sheridan County Attorney’s Office for travel expenses incurred from a key witness of the prosecution who would have had to travel to Sheridan to testify at the trial. Ziska’s Attorney, Anna Malmberg, filed a change of plea motion and notice to vacate the jury trial several days before the trial was scheduled to take place. The travel plans for the witness had already been paid for prior to the change of plea motion being filed, resulting in the restitution request from the prosecution.