BATTLE MOUNTAIN - In a plea agreement with the district attorney's office, Jess Manuel Willer, 21, is expected to plead guilty to attempted child sexual abuse, a category C felony, for an event that occurred May 12, 2012, at a residence on Elquist Drive, according to court documents.
He waived his June 4 preliminary hearing in the Argenta Justice Court. The case is scheduled for an arraignment in the Sixth Judicial District Court on July 24 at 10:30 a.m. Willer signed the guilty plea agreement on June 3.
Willer signed the agreement in exchange for no other charges to be filed against him. He faces up to five years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine and restitution fees.
The judge can only consider probation if Willer receives a psychosexual evaluation that concludes that he does not represent a high risk to reoffend based on the currently accepted standard of assessment.
Per the plea agreement, he will be required to register as a sex offender and can be subject to lifetime supervision unless he meets several requirements.
An arraignment was held in the Argenta Justice Court on May 20 for Willer, who was arrested May 16 on suspicion of sexual assault against a child under the age of 16.
Willer was already in custody on other charges at the time of his arrest, said Undersheriff Robert Quick. As of June 11, Willer was still in custody with his bail set at $500,000.
He was initially charged officially by the district attorney's office with sexual assault against a child under the age of 14, a category A felony, or in the alternative, with lewdness with a child under the age of 14, also a category A felony.
In the case of alternative charges, the district attorney is putting the defendant on notice of both charges and once the evidence is presented, he can be found guilty of one or the other charge but not both, or acquitted.
According to the initial criminal complaint, it said that the victim was 13 years old at the time of the incident. The complaint alleged that the actions were done against the will of the child.
The second criminal complaint states that the defendant attempted to willfully cause a child to suffer unjustifiable physical pain as a result of sexual abuse.
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