Hasty to be sentenced in January
Sentencing for a Mayetta teen charged with three counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child has been set for January after the teen entered no contest pleas on two of the three counts Thursday in Jackson County District Court.
Weston Hasty, 17, saw one of the three indecent liberties counts dismissed as part of a plea deal reached that day in district court. Hasty had been charged based on incidents that allegedly occurred in June with a 3-year-old girl at a Mayetta day care center that was operated at the time by his mother.
As a result of the plea deal and extended juvenile jurisdiction granted by Magistrate Judge Blaine Carter in October, Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller said Hasty will receive both a juvenile sentence and an adult sentence at the Jan. 7 sentencing hearing. His adult sentence will be stayed and will not be served if he successfully completes the juvenile sentence, she added.
The juvenile sentence could range from supervised probation to a sentence served at the Juvenile Correctional Complex in Topeka, Miller said. If the latter occurs, she added, Hasty faces a minimum of 24 months and a maximum to age 22 1/2 at the juvenile detention center, with post-release supervision up to age 23.
In the meantime, Jackson County District Court Judge Micheal Ireland modified the conditions of Hasty’s bond so that he could attend Royal Valley High School at certain times where his class work needed to be completed in a classroom setting; otherwise, he remains on house arrest. Miller said Jackson County Juvenile Intake had been supervising his school work while he is on house arrest.
According to the juvenile court complaint, Hasty reportedly solicited a 3-year-old girl to engage in “lewd fondling or touching” at the day care facility, which has since been closed. A July 17 journal entry states that Hasty was released on house arrest and would require electronic monitoring.
Miller had also filed a motion in July to try Hasty as an adult, saying that probable cause had been established regarding the allegations of inappropriate sexual contact with the 3-year-old girl. Carter denied the motion in October, saying that Hasty’s attorney, James Heathman of Topeka, had successfully argued that Hasty’s juvenile status should not be waived.
Thursday’s hearing was briefly delayed while Ireland gave Miller and Heathman time to hash out a plea deal. Heathman had suggested earlier in the hearing that Hasty could stand trial on the charges, but Ireland said a trial might not occur until March or April of next year.
Following Hasty’s entry of the two no contest pleas, Ireland agreed to a request from Heathman to modify Hasty’s bond to allow him to go to RVHS to attend to “projects that need to be done at school.” In those cases, Ireland said Hasty is to go to school by “the most direct route,” but when he is not needed in class, he will remain on house arrest.
“If your teachers think you need to be there, you’re free to go,” Ireland told Hasty. “My concern is that I don’t know what will happen when you show up at school. If you get in a fight or do something stupid, it’s not going to help you at the sentencing hearing.”
Bond was also modified at Heathman’s request to allow members of Hasty’s “blended family,” including a 16-year-old stepbrother, to attend holiday-related activities at his home. Bond conditions had included that no minor children be allowed in the home.
