Thompson scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 23

A Sabetha resident charged in Jackson County District Court with two counts of sexual exploitation of a child has entered a no contest plea to one of the two counts in Jackson County District Court.

As a result of the plea, entered Monday afternoon in district court, Daniel J. Thompson, 25, will face a sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Dec. 23, according to Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller. Thompson’s plea canceled the need for a three-day trial that had been scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Nov. 17.

The charges against Thompson stemmed from alleged incidents in April, in which he was charged with enticing or coercing an underage girl, reportedly a 16-year-old Jackson County resident at the time of the alleged incident, to “engage in sexually explicit conduct,” as well as possessing a sexually explicit depiction of the girl, allegedly on a cellular telephone.

Thompson was arrested and charged in May, and the telephone was turned over to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation for a forensic search. He currently remains at the Jackson County Detention Center awaiting sentencing.

Both of the child sexual exploitation counts are Level 5 felonies, Miller said, although each count corresponds to a different activity. Thompson pleaded no contest to the count in which he allegedly possessed sexually explicit photos of the girl; the other count has been dismissed as a result of Thompson’s plea deal.

Miller said that Thompson’s sentence on the one count would likely range between 31 months and 136 months with the Kansas Department of Corrections, “depending on his criminal history.” Part — but not all — of Thompson’s sentence may include presumed probation, she added.

It has not been announced which judge will oversee the sentencing hearing following the Aug. 29 death of District Court Judge Micheal Ireland, who had been presiding over the case. Both Miller and defense attorney Christopher Etzel of Onaga have been named as possible successors for Ireland, it was reported.