A 72-year-old Green River, Wyoming, man walked into the local sheriff’s office last summer and announced he needed to confess to fondling a pre-teen girl 30 years earlier, court documents say.
Authorities say he was arrested earlier this month and bonded out of jail the same day.
Randy Jay Nelsen now faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of two charges of third- and second-degree sexual assault.
He was charged Jan. 2 and his case rose to the felony-level Sweetwater County District Court last Friday.
On July 12, 2024, at about 8:20 in the morning, Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office Detective Ashley Merrell was on duty when she learned there was a man in the lobby asking to talk to an investigator, says an affidavit based on a report Merrell wrote.
The man, Nelsen, “needed to confess,” he told sheriff’s personnel, according to the document.
Merrell took Nelsen to an interview room and told him his Miranda rights. Nelsen then told her he was fondling a girl’s breasts when the girl would have been 12 or 13 years old, Merrell wrote.
Though the man said the incident was about 20 years ago, it actually would rather have been in about 1990, based on the female’s year of birth, which is listed in the affidavit.
Merrell met with the girl five days later. The document says the female, now an adult woman, confirmed that Nelsen had done this, but said it was when she was about 10 or 11. She also said he fondled her genital area, the affidavit relates from her interview.
Booked Out
Sweetwater County Deputy Attorney Hillary McKinney charged Nelsen this month with one count of second-degree sexual assault, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and another of third-degree sexual assault, which is punishable by up to five years in prison. These accuse Nelsen of sexually abusing the girl between 1989 and 1992.
Nelsen waived his preliminary hearing Jan. 14. That means he chose not to argue whether the state has probable cause to keep prosecuting him.
Nelsen was booked into the Sweetwater County Detention Center on Jan. 8 and booked out that same day, Sweetwater County Sheriff’s spokesman Jason Mower told Cowboy State Daily in a Thursday email.
As for the question of why Nelsen wasn't booked into the jail for six months following his alleged confession, Mower said he didn't have specifics for this case, but it could be in line with a law enforcement practice called "long forming."
"Most likely because the alleged crime occurred such a long time ago and the lead detective forwarded (her) investigative report(s) to the county attorney’s office, awaiting the CA’s decision to file charges and issue a bench warrant for the suspect’s arrest," he added.
Sweetwater County Attorney Danny Erramouspe said his office received the investigative report at the end of September.
"As is the case with historical (sexual assault cases), follow up with victims and other witnesses is sometimes necessary before filing," said Erramouspe. "Also, research into the statutes at the time needed to be conducted as they have changed."
Nelsen did not immediately respond Thursday to a voicemail request for comment.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
