Daniel Gonzalez, 22, had sex with a 16-year-old girl in his patrol car in October. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of "attempted" sexual abuse.
DILLINGHAM: Daniel Gonzalez, 22, had been a village police officer in Togiak for only nine days before he was accused of having sex with a teenage girl in the front seat of his patrol car. Read the original account here.
According to the VPSO and state troopers who investigated the case, Gonzalez fessed up under questioning. The age of consent in Alaska is 16, but because Officer Gonzalez held authority over the 16-year-old, he was charged with second degree sexual abuse of a minor, a class B felony.
Prosecutors reached a plea deal with Gonzalez and his attorney to reduce the charge to "attempted" second degree sexual abuse of a minor, a class C felony. Gonzalez, wearing a Goose Creek Correctional Center yellow jumpsuit, entered a guilty plea to that charge Wednesday in Dillingham.
Under the original charge, Gonzalez would have faced between five and fifteen years in prison. With the conviction on the reduced charge, he now faces between two and twelve years' jail time, and will have to register as a sex offender for fifteen years.
Under a Dept. of Law policy issued last year, prosecutors can no longer work out a sentencing agreement during plea negotiations with defendants. Though certain charges can be still be reduced, ultimately a judge decides the appropriate sentence in open court. In part, this was intended to block prosecutors from crafting plea deals behind closed doors that the public might consider as too light on the punishment.
In this case, what amount between two and twelve years that Gonzalez will spend in prison will be decided by Judge Patricia Douglass during a hearing scheduled for July 11.