All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
UPDATE: At the time of publication of this post, the sentencing date had not been set. Court filings now indicate the sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 2, 2025.
(Fremont County, WY) – 23-year-old Riverton man Hunter DeVries pled “guilty” to two sexual abuse of a minor in the first degree felony charges at his arraignment hearing held in Lander today, November 12.
The hearing was overseen by the Honorable Judge Kate McKay, with Patrick LeBrun representing the State, and James Whiting acting as Defense.
DeVries faces five sexual abuse of a minor in the first-degree felony charges, following an investigation that began after a 12-year-old victim told law enforcement DeVries had sexually assaulted them multiple times over the course of a year.
(DeVries was also running for the Fremont County School District #25 school board in the 2024 Election, but dropped from the race on Oct. 25 when law enforcement first contacted him about the charges.)
At today’s hearing, the Court confirmed that a plea agreement had been filed on DeVries’ behalf on November 6, which stipulated that he would plead guilty to two of the five counts filed against him, as long as the other three would be dismissed.
The plea agreement also stipulated that both parties agreed to a 30-year cap for each count, which would be served concurrently (meaning DeVries would be incarcerated for a total of 30 years).
DeVries followed through with the guilty pleas to Counts 2 and 5, and admitted to the court he did commit the various illegal sexual acts described in those charges, which will not be specified in this post due to the unnamed victim being a minor.
The Court did not accept or reject DeVries’ guilty pleas, and a pre-sentence investigation (PSI) report was ordered, which could take “a couple of months,” Judge McKay stated.
A date for the sentencing hearing was not announced at today’s arraignment, but Judge McKay said that depending on the timeliness of the PSI report, it should take place “approximately in January.”
DeVries remains detained at this time.
County 10 will provide updates on this case, which can be viewed here.
(Editor’s Note: Out of respect to the victim and their anonymity during this case, County 10 chose not to include certain details from the case filings and today’s arraignment hearing that could lead to the revealing of their identity.)