News
Man who had sex with teen wife may avoid prison under plea agreement
Published: Jan 17, 2007 - 08:44 PM
SHEBOYGAN — A 22-year-old Sheboygan father facing felony sex assault charges for having sex with his 16-year-old wife when she was 15 will not face prison time and could avoid jail as well under a plea agreement prosecutors plan to offer this week. Sheboygan County Dist. Atty. Joe DeCecco said Monday that Jason Lee, 22, could see his case resolved before a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday. Lee was charged Jan. 10 with repeated sexual assault of a child, which carries a prison term of up to 25 years.
We can’t ignore this kind of thing, but … it is something that should not result in registration as a sexual offender or any appreciable jail time,” DeCecco said. “Prison is out of the question as far as I’m concerned.”
Lee conceived a child with Jessica Yang in April, when she was still 15, and the two wed on Oct. 18, the day after Jessica’s 16th birthday, according to a criminal complaint. The couple was married in the Hmong culture July 7 and 8, but had to wait for their state wedding because 16 is the minimum age at which Wisconsin law permits marriage, even with parental consent. Yang gave birth to the couple’s son two weeks ago.
Lee said Monday — in a telephone interview from his father’s home, where he lives with his wife and child — that he has received no official word of a potential plea deal.
“I would be happy. That would be a relief,” said Lee, who works part-time at Johnsonville Sausage. “I’d just like to move on with what I’m doing with my life and with my wife and kid.”
Lee conceived a child with Jessica Yang in April, when she was still 15, and the two wed on Oct. 18, the day after Jessica’s 16th birthday, according to a criminal complaint. The couple was married in the Hmong culture July 7 and 8, but had to wait for their state wedding because 16 is the minimum age at which Wisconsin law permits marriage, even with parental consent. Yang gave birth to the couple’s son two weeks ago.
Lee said Monday — in a telephone interview from his father’s home, where he lives with his wife and child — that he has received no official word of a potential plea deal.
“I would be happy. That would be a relief,” said Lee, who works part-time at Johnsonville Sausage. “I’d just like to move on with what I’m doing with my life and with my wife and kid.”
