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Jansen pleads guilty on two counts of rape


Former Walworth County State’s Attorney Christopher Jansen, changed his plea on Wednesday, July 29, to guilty on two of the six counts of rape of a child the state had filed against him.
He pleaded guilty to two charges for sex acts committed with two children under the age of 13. The other four counts on the indictment will be dropped as part of the plea deal.
State circuit Judge John Brown accepted the guilty plea to the counts, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. Judge Brown indicated during the plea hearing that the sentences can be served consecutively.
According to Nick Lowrey of the Pierre Capital Journal, during the hearing it was reported that as part of the plea deal, Jansen agreed that a third victim not named in the two counts he pleaded to was a victim and could be considered as part of sentencing.
The sentencing date for Jansen in the state’s case against him will be Sept. 25 at 10 a.m. in Hughes County. A psychosexual evaluation was also ordered.
Jansen is scheduled to face three child pornography charges in federal court in October.
The plea came exactly one year after Jansen was arrested following a state and federal child pornography investigation.
On Tuesday, July 29, 2014, after search warrants were executed at Jansen’s law office located in the Bridge City Publishing building on East Grand Crossing in Mobridge and his residence in Selby, Jansen, 34, was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree rape by the state of South Dakota. He was arrested that same day near Blunt.
Jansen was also charged on two counts in federal court, sexual exploitation of a child and distribution of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors.
All of the above charges stem from what Jansen described in his interviews as relationships with three boys whose families live in Hughes County and for whom Jansen did legal work.
Jansen served as state’s attorney in Walworth County for four years, 2009 through 2012.
– Katie Zerr –

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