A man charged with dozens of sex offenses agreed to a plea bargain Monday, pleading guilty to three of the charges. James Swett admitted his guilt to three of the charges of first degreee child molestation, one for each of the underage victims.

Andrew County Circuit Judge Weldon Judah imposed three concurrent terms of 15 years, for a 15-year controlling prison sentence.

“According to the youngest victim’s mother, the boy has regressed since the preliminary hearing,” said Andrew County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Stevenson in an interview.

 

“They were really upset as you can imagine,” Stevenson said. “A trial will often interrupt the healing process for the victims, and we need to bear that in mind.”

Stevenson says all three of the victims preferred resolving the case over being forced to return to court for a trial.

“These monsters prey on that,” Stevenson said. “This way, we get some significant punishment, and we won’t have to come back for a trial.”

Mr Stevenson says many of the 50 or so charges he filed were “alternative counts,” which meant he could not have received two convictions for the same set of facts.  He says there were a  dozen or so actual incidents involved.

Mr Swett was arrested in Minnesota where he had fled to avoid prosecution last June.

Under current law, Mr Swett must serve at least 85% of the controlling sentence.