RED WING — A Kenyon man charged with sexually assaulting a young child pleaded guilty Friday, and was immediately sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Jerome Otto Ellman, 22, was charged in February in Goodhue County District Court with one count each of first-, second-, third- and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct; using a minor in a sexual performance and possession of child pornography, all felonies.
He pleaded guilty to the first-degree count, and the rest were dismissed. Judge Kevin Mark then sentenced him to 144 months in prison, with credit for 193 days served.
The charges stemmed from an investigation that began Feb. 16, when a woman called police after using Ellman's phone. According to the criminal complaint, she saw photos of Ellman engaging in sex acts with a very young child. The woman believed the child was someone Ellman knew. The responding officer also saw the photos, the report says. He took the phone as evidence and contacted an investigator with the Goodhue County Sheriff's Office.
Ellman allegedly admitted taking the photos with his cellphone about a month earlier when he was at the child's house and had sent the photos to a woman he met online.
