Orange City, Iowa — An Orange City man has been sentenced after he was found guilty of sexual abuse.
Sioux County Attorney Thomas G. Kunstle says that 22-year-old Chance Jacob Wetter of Orange City was convicted last month in Sioux County District Court for the crime of Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree, a Class C Felony.
This case arose on October 20, 2015, when the Orange City Police Department says school officials told them that a 15-year-old high school student was pregnant and that Wetter was believed to be the father.
At the time, Kunstle’s office says Wetter was on probation for unrelated prior crimes.
He says the victim initially stated Wetter was the father, but after authorities became involved, she denied she knew the father’s identity. The child’s birth certificate and paternity testing verified Wetter was the father.
Wetter pled not guilty and waived his right to a jury trial.
The Court found Wetter guilty of Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree last month, under Iowa’s statutory rape law. On Friday the Court sentenced Wetter to a suspended 10-year prison sentence, ordered probation for two years, and required Wetter to register as a sex offender and be supervised on parole for life.
