BOULDER — A Longmont teenager who threw away a chance at a clean record after receiving a deferred sentence in an attempted sexual assault was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison.
Sean Jackson, 19, was accused of sexually assaulting two girls, one when he was a juvenile and one after he turned 18. He pleaded guilty in November to attempted sexual assault, a felony, and to third-degree assault, a misdemeanor. Boulder District Judge Carol Glowinsky agreed to a plea agreement that included a deferred sentence for the felony, which meant Jackson’s record would not include a felony conviction if he stayed out of trouble for four years.
For the misdemeanor, Glowinsky sentenced Jackson to one year of work release, meaning he could keep his job but had to sleep at the jail, and two years of probation. He also had to register as a sex offender.
Eight days after he was sentenced in January, Jackson did not return to jail as scheduled. He turned himself in March 1.
Defense attorney Debra Trapp said Jackson took off because he was upset that he had lost his job because he had to register as a sex offender.
“It was all he had left at that point in time,” Trapp said.
Since then, Jackson has vacillated between trying to withdraw his guilty plea — which could mean life in prison if he were convicted on the sex offenses — and accepting a three-year prison sentence for violating the deferred sentence.
“This situation has been extremely difficult for Sean, in determining what direction he’s moving in,” Trapp said. “The bottom line is, Sean is accepting responsibility.”
“I think I’m making a wise decision,” Jackson told Glowinsky.
After he serves his prison term, Jackson will spend two years on parole. He will have to register as a sex offender for at least 10 years after that, said prosecutor Rob Shapiro.
Jackson’s psycho-sexual evaluation, which assesses one’s chances of committing other sex offenses, “didn’t come out great,” Trapp said. Shapiro was more blunt about the results, calling it “very disturbing” and an “eye-opener.”
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