A former South Dakota state senate candidate and groomer has been convicted, the Mitchell Republic's Hunter Dunteman reported Tuesday in Former Republican candidate Joel Koskan sentenced to prison for incest:
Failed South Dakota Senate candidate Joel Koskan was sentenced to a decade in prison on Tuesday, April 11, on two counts of incest.
The 44-year-old Wood, South Dakota, resident appeared in a Hughes County courtroom on Tuesday for what had originally been a case involving one count of child abuse. In the hearing, Koskan pleaded guilty to two counts of incest.
Judge Margo Northrup sentenced Koskan to 10 years in prison, with no time suspended. . . .
In the Argus Leader, Anne Todd reports in Joel Koskan pleads guilty to 2 counts of felony incest:
. . . Koskan, 44, originally faced felony child abuse charges for acts that allegedly took place between October 2014 and October 2016, according to court documents filed in November. He exposed his victim, a now 20-year-old woman, to "sexual grooming behaviors." . . .
Northrup, in her sentencing decision, explained it is society's duty to protect children, especially foster children. Koskan took advantage of a child, she said. She then looked at the victim, who had been crying off and on during the 30-minute hearing.
On Dakota Free Press, Cory Allen Heidelberger pulls no punches in Daughter’s Brave Stand Forces Joel Koskan to Admit Incest; Judge Gives Republican Rapist 10 Years in Prison.
The South Dakota Searchlight staff reports in Former legislative candidate sentenced to 10 years for incest:
Former legislative candidate Joel Koskan was sentenced to 10 years in state prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to two felony counts of incest, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
The charges stemmed from sexual activity with an adopted child. Charges were filed against Koskan in November, just days before the general election in which he was running as a Republican for a state Senate seat. Koskan, from the rural community of Wood in Mellette County, lost the race but received 42 percent of the votes cast.
Attorney General Marty Jackley praised the victim for showing courage and the investigators and prosecutors for their work.
“Justice has been served in this case because the victim overcame extraordinary conditions to cooperate with the prosecution,” Jackley said in a news release.
Circuit Court Judge Margo Northrup accepted Koskan’s guilty plea Tuesday in a Hughes County courtroom in Pierre. Koskan waived his right to a delay in his sentencing and was immediately sentenced. In addition to the prison time, he was ordered to pay more than $20,000 in fines.
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Photo: Koskan leaves the courtroom after pleading guilty to two charges of felony incest. By Anne Todd, Sioux Falls Argus Leader.
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