From the Courts - State District Court: Man sentenced to reduced charge in incest case

Isaac Scott Wardell was sentenced to time served and probation in state District Court in Havre, Monday, for a felony count of aggravated assault in a case that originally included incest, sexual intercourse without consent and sexual abuse of children charges.

Wardell pleaded guilty to the reduced charge in plea agreement.

District Judge Yvonne Laird sentenced Wardell to 10 years with the state Department of Corrections, all suspended, and credited him with 757 days served. She also ordered him to pay a $2,500 fine and designated him a Tier 1 sex offender.

The plea agreement called for an eight-year sentence, all suspended.

Wardell was charged with counts of incest, sexual intercourse without consent, sexual abuse of children, sexual assault and indecent exposure to minors after he was accused of performing sexual acts with a pre-high school-aged girl from August through December 2017.

He agreed to make an Alford plea, in which the defendant admits they would likely be convicted but does not admit to guilt, but Laird expressed concern about making such a plea in a sexual assault case.

In the plea agreement filed in January to which Wardell agreed, the sexual assault charge was amended to a felony aggravated assault to which he pleaded guilty and the prosecution would dismiss the remaining four charges.