The Idaho Mountain Express reports that Leo Robert Schofield Sr., 69, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty earlier to sexually abusing a child family member.
Schofield Sr. will be required to spend four years in prison before parole eligibility. He was given credit for eight months spent in jail following his arrest in November 2010.
In a type of plea agreement referred to as an “Alford plea,” Schofield pleaded guilty in April to sexual abuse of a child under 16, a crime punishable in Idaho by up to 25 years in prison. He was originally charged with a more serious crime of lewd conduct with a minor child, an offense punishable by up to life prison.
Under the Alford plea, Schofield did not admit to committing a crime, but acknowledged that there was likely sufficient evidence for a conviction. The plea agreement further specified that if Elgee did not follow the joint sentencing recommendation, the guilty plea could be withdrawn.
Schofield was charged with committing the sex crime against the child sometime between 2006 and 2009. Court records identify the girl as a family member.
At sentencing, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matt Fredback said Schofield deserves to go to prison because he has a “high risk to re-offend” and a “long history of denial.”
Fredback noted that Schofield has a 1987 felony conviction in Rhode Island for sex acts against a 9-year-old child and is currently wanted in Massachusetts on a warrant charging him with a sex crime there.
Apparently, the state of Massachusetts has not yet attempted to have Schofield extradited.
