Man convicted of Child Abuse avoids prison as part of plea deal

BILLINGS, MT  –  A judge Friday sentenced a Casper area man to probation and a suspended prison sentence for felony child abuse.

Alan Farley was initially accused of sexually abusing a child.  But he pleaded to lesser charges, including the child abuse, as part of a deal that could keep him out of prison.

Natrona County District Judge Daniel Forgey handed down seven-to-10 year suspended prison sentence that would potentially go into effect if Farley violates his five years of probation.

Farley, who frequently conferred with his lawyer during Friday’s hearing, did not speak when Forgey offered him the opportunity.

The victim of the crime addressed the court before sentencing.

“What you did to me was the worst decision you could possibly make,” the child said in a calm, measured tone.

“I want other kids to know they’re not alone and they can stick up for themselves too,” she said.

The plea agreement prevented prosecutors from seeking prison time.

Prosecutor Kevin Taheri asked Forgey for an eight-to-10 year suspended sentence and seven years of supervised probation.  Public defender Curtis Cheney asked for a three-to-five year suspended sentence with probation.

Forgey, in handing down his sentence, did not explain why he imposed the stiffer penalty.

Although Farley was charged in April with two felony sex crimes including second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, he pleaded to lesser charges: felony child abuse and misdemeanor sexual battery.

The girl, who was born in 2006, first told her guardian that she did not like it when Farley cuddled with her, according to court documents.  After the girl told her counselor more details, the guardian decided to report the girl’s allegations to police.

In a later interview, the girl said that Farley grabbed her butt under her pants while they were sitting in a recliner.  She said that he stopped briefly when someone else walked into the room and she moved to a nearby bed.  Farley then followed her to the bed, the April affidavit states.

The girl said she didn’t remember much after that, except that at some point she was completely naked and he was on top of her.  She said she was scared and that she froze, according to the affidavit.

She said that Farley later told her that he would hurt her loved ones if she told anybody about what happened.

Farley was couch surfing at the time of the report, the girl’s family told police.