A Dexter man was sentenced Thursday in Mower County Third Judicial District Court for a power play that didn’t work.

Friday, April 07, 2000

A Dexter man was sentenced Thursday in Mower County Third Judicial District Court for a power play that didn’t work.

That’s how the victim of his sexual advances described the behavior of Ernest LeRoy Kirkpatrick, 45.

"I’m not out to wreck his life, but just to prove that he can’t control other people’s lives," victim Kim Gosen said after Thursday’s sentencing hearing before District Judge Donald E. Rysavy. Although the names of sexual assault victims typically are not published, Goshen consented to the use of her name in this story.

Kirkpatrick was sentenced to 30 days in jail (with release privileges) and 30 days of electronic home monitoring. A 365-day jail/prison sentence was stayed for two years’ supervised probation.

Other provisions of the sentence include a hearing to be held later to determine the amount of restitution he must pay the victim, a sexual offender evaluation as well as no chemical abuse and to be on "good behavior."

He originally was charged with one serious felony count of criminal sexual conduct in the second degree and another serious felony count of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree.

In addition, Kirkpatrick was charged with a misdemeanor for trespassing.

However, a plea agreement between the prosecutor and the defense attorney allowed Kirkpatrick to plead guilty to reduced charges. According to the disposition, the first degree serious felony criminal sexual conduct charge was amended to a gross misdemeanor.

The other felony charge and the trespassing misdemeanor charges were dismissed.

"I think it was a fair disposition of the case," said Patrick A. Oman, Mower County Attorney, "Because it was way over-charged."

According to the criminal complaint filed by Mower County Sheriff’s Detective Glen E. Farnum, two sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call for help Sept. 7 to a Dexter residence.

"On arrival, the deputies found the victim in a chair in the living room, crying, very frightened and in the fetal position," Farnum’s complaint noted.

The victim, Gosen, told the deputies Kirkpatrick, owner of the home she was renting in Dexter, came to the house – located along Pleasant Avenue in Dexter next door to the Kirkpatrick family’s home – to allegedly pick up a lease agreement.

Kirkpatrick asked for a beer, which the renter provided him, and then refused her requests that he leave.

A cousin was present at the time and witnessed the exchange.

Also present was Gosen’s then-3-year-old child.

According to the criminal complaint, Gosen quoted Kirkpatrick as telling her, "If I wasn’t cool about things, it wouldn’t be very nice living here."

Gosen told the deputies she became frightened that the defendant would "kick them out of the house they were renting from him."

Gosen continued to demand that Kirkpatrick leave the house until, she told deputies, "The defendant did everything he could except rape me. He physically tried."

The victim described to deputies how Kirkpatrick attempted to kiss her, put his hands under her skirt and continually grabbed at her. All the while she resisted and Kirkpatrick made remarks, according to the complaint, such as "If you’re not cool about this, I’m going to make it hard for you to live here. I ain’t gonna be nice."

Gosen escaped from Kirkpatrick’s physical clutches and ran to a nearby residence where another cousin lived.

Then, she returned to her residence and found Kirkpatrick sitting on the front steps.

Again he attempted to kiss the woman and fondle her.

She escaped and ran into the house, taking a cordless telephone with her into a bathroom, which she locked. She called her female cousin and asked her to send her husband to the residence to help her fend off Kirkpatrick. The cousin arrived at the home and told Kirkpatrick to leave immediately. He complied and walked away from the house.

When her cousin’s husband left, Kirkpatrick returned to Gosen’s residence.

The cousin’s husband saw him return and went back to the residence himself and found Kirkpatrick asleep on a couch, while Gosen remained inside the locked bathroom.

The cousin’s husband ordered Kirkpatrick to wake up and leave the residence a second time.

Gosen’s cousin was talking with her on the telephone throughout the confrontation and told investigators she heard the victim’s 3-year-old boy say to Kirkpatrick: "Go home. This is my house."

When the cousin’s husband returned again, Gosen was coming out of the bathroom and Kirkpatrick immediately began following her throughout the home. He ordered Kirkpatrick out of the house again.

When deputies arrived, he was gone.

Kirkpatrick was arrested and charged with the crimes.

He was ordered to pay bail of $3,000, make all court appearances and have no contact with the victim or any members of her family.

Then, a plea agreement was negotiated between Kirkpatrick’s attorney, Duane Kennedy of Grand Meadow, and Mower County Attorney Pat Oman, setting the stage for Thursday’s sentencing.

Kennedy complained to Rysavy that he had received the presentence investigation report only "45 minutes before this hearing."

He questioned the report’s detailing of Kirkpatrick’s previous criminal offenses, including non-sex-related offenses dating back to the 1970s.

He also said the intended prohibition to contact with females could impact his own family life as a father of three children and the baseball coach of a favorite nephew.

Kirkpatrick’s only audible comment before the court was, "I’m sorry for anything I did to her."

Both the defendant and his attorney have claimed that alcohol use impaired his thinking at the time. Rysavy wasn’t satisfied with Kirkpatrick’s apology and said, "The defendant has not acknowledged taking responsibility for his actions."

He then accepted the plea agreement and sentenced Kirkpatrick to the reduced charges.

Among the judge’s orders was that Kirkpatrick have "no solitary contact with females when in power or authority."