Bellevue man sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting 14-year-old
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A Nebraska man will spend at least a decade behind bars for the sexual assault of a teen in 2022.
Ross Knoles of Bellevue was sentenced Monday to 20 to 30 years in prison for one count of attempted first-degree sexual assault of a child.
He was also sentenced to five to 10 years for visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, Sarpy County officials said.
Knoles will serve the sentences consecutively, but they will automatically be cut in half under Nebraska’s good time law.
Knoles was arrested in December 2022 for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old.
During an investigation, authorities learned that he sent a sexually explicit image of a child over the internet, officials said.
On Aug. 17, Knoles pleaded no contest to amended charges.
“The County Attorney’s Office was able to successfully prosecute this case because of the quick and thorough investigation by Bellevue Police detectives,” Deputy Sarpy County Attorney Ben Perlman said in a press release. “The child in this case showed a great deal of courage in reporting what the defendant had done. The sentence imposed by the court reflects the serious nature of the charges.”
