A Riverton man who served for 25 years as a volunteer firefighter and drove a school bus for a district on the Wind River Indian Reservation was sentenced Tuesday in Lander to between seven and 12 years in prison for groping two women after giving them rides.
The Riverton Volunteer Fire Department disavowed the man in a public statement last year after his charges were filed.
Having been out of jail on bond during his prosecution, Charlie Joseph Lawrence, 54, arrived at his Tuesday sentencing hearing in Fremont County District Court in normal clothing — a plaid collared shirt and tan vest, trousers and spectacles.
After District Court Judge Kate McKay pronounced a sentence of between seven and 12 years in prison for two counts of third-degree sexual assault, deputies entered the courtroom and handcuffed Lawrence’s wrists behind his back.
“The deputies are here to take you into custody,” said McKay. “Good luck going forward.”
Lawrence had picked up at least two women walking Riverton to give them rides in 2023 and 2024, but then groped them against their will once they were in his truck, court documents say.
Multiple other women besides the original two came forward after Lawrence was charged to allege inappropriate behavior under similar circumstances.
Perfect Storm
Lawrence’s attorney Eric Phillips pointed to Lawrence’s complete lack of criminal history, his 25 years volunteering as a firefighter and his faithfulness to meet with his pastor (who is also a trained counselor) since last year. Lawrence has no substance abuse disorders.
Before Lawrence succumbed to what Phillips conceded was “deeply, deeply shameful behavior,” the man’s father had died and his marriage was unraveling.
“This is not who he is,” said Phillips. “This is not who he has been for 50 some years of his life. This was a perfect storm of bad things that happened, and him doing bad things as a result of (such).”
Since his charging and frequent media coverage of it, Lawrence’s marriage has ended and his children and grandchildren aren’t speaking to him, said Phillips.
Lawrence has been living with his mother and sister. The defense attorney emphasized that Lawrence’s mother has been having health issues and Lawrence has been providing for the family.
Phillips urged McKay to give Lawrence probation, and the chance to prove himself anew to his children.
In an earlier hearing, Lawrence pleaded guilty pursuant to an Alford case to two counts of third-degree sexual assault. Pleading guilty under “Alford” is a way of acknowledging that the prosecutor has enough evidence to convict, without admitting to one’s guilt.
Phillips said Lawrence invoked Alford for his own reasons, but that he still takes responsibility for the crimes and took a plea agreement to avoid putting his two victims through the harrowing nature of a trial.
When given the chance to speak to the judge, Lawrence said, “I agree with Mr. Phillips.”
‘Abhorrent’
McKay, conversely, said she agreed with Fremont County Attorney Deputy Tim Hancock’s assessment of Lawrence’s crimes: that they were predatory, involved careful planning, and that they were “abhorrent.”
“It’s hard to put your finger on why it’s so horrifying,” said McKay. These aren’t the worst sexual assaults she’s encountered, the judge added.
But the disturbing part seems to be the willingness of a man to hold himself out “as a good Samaritan” while plotting harm to others, she said, adding, “there is something particularly heinous about this.”
Hancock had noted that Lawrence’s recent careers have involved driving. Before he was charged he drove buses for a local school district. While out on bond he worked for a taxi service, Hancock said.
The prosecutor said he found both career choices “interesting.”
He also noted that the two women Lawrence victimized were in somewhat compromised positions in life. They needed the help of a ride. One had left the probation and parole office. The circumstances indicate Lawrence perceived them as able to be swayed by the temptation of alcohol, or already intoxicated, said Hancock.
He asked for a 10-to-15-year sentence, the maximum Lawrence’s plea agreement would allow.
The Bust
Riverton Police Department Officer Christian Amos researched allegations against Lawrence for months.
A woman who is now about 22 spoke with Amos on March 14, 2023, about a sexual attack by an older man. She said she was walking to work that afternoon when an older male driving a black pickup near the drive-through area of a local bank asked if she wanted a ride.
She accepted the ride, but along the way, the man asked the woman to lift up her shirt to expose her breast.
She said no, the woman told Amos later.
The man then stopped near another restaurant to let the woman out of the truck, but first he groped her breast without her consent.
Amos caught up with this woman a year later, March 17, 2024, at the Fremont County Detention Center where she was then confined.
She identified Lawrence from a photo lineup of six people via a photo Amos had taken from Lawrence’s Facebook page.
It Continues
On Jan. 30, 2024, Amos responded to a probation and parole officer reporting a sexual assault on behalf of a another woman whose probation she was overseeing, according to the affidavit.
The woman, who is now about 43, told Amos that three weeks prior on Jan. 9, she was out walking home from a visit with her probation agent because her sister couldn’t give her a ride. The sister was stuck at the dentist’s office, the woman said.
So the woman started walking home, when an older man pulled up to where she was in a black Chevy Silverado truck and offered her a ride.
She agreed, sat in the front passenger seat and gave the man directions to her apartment, the affidavit says.
But he rolled past her apartment and took her toward the rural Cooper Road, which turns to dirt and curves along a disjointed patch of the Wind River Indian Reservation before leading back to Riverton’s cemetery and main highway.
She protested, and he reportedly said, “Yeah, but we’re going for a ride.”
The Escape
The man kept making comments about the woman having “beautiful” breasts and offered her alcohol, the affidavit relates.
The document says he “forced himself” on her and penetrated her with his fingers as she pleaded with him to stop, then lifted her shirt and placing his mouth on her breast. She “shut down” and shook in fear, says the affidavit.
The woman told the man she needed a bottle of alcohol to help her calm down, then they could do whatever he wanted, reportedly. But it was a ploy to escape.
He took her to a convenience store in town and he left the truck. She also fled the truck, rushed into the convenience store and hid in the cooler, distraught. A male worker asked her what was going on and she told him, says the affidavit.
Amos went to the convenience store during his investigation and followed up with the manager and assistant manager, who confirmed that the woman told them of the sexual attack. They both saw her enter the store distraught and crying that day, says the document.
The manager consoled her, and both of the workers wanted to report the incident to law enforcement, but the woman urged them against it at the time, the document says.
The assistant manager walked outside to get the man’s license plate number, but by then he’d driven away, the document says.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
