Defendant in Grove Lake sexual assault case pleads guilty

Joey Crooker, 37, incarcerated in the county jail, changed his plea when he faced the Honorable James Kube for a pretrial hearing last week in the Antelope County district courtroom.

Crooker was charged with one felony count, first-degree sexual assault, alleged June 29 at a Grove Lake campground.

Crooker, who is represented by Antelope County public defender Patrick Carney, and prosecutor Joe Abler reached a plea agreement. Terms of the agreement included Abler reducing the charge to third-degree sexual assault, a Class 1 misdemeanor, in exchange for Crooker’s guilty plea. Abler said he sent a letter to the victim advising her of the agreement and the hearing and got no response.

Kube rearraigned Crooker on the amended charge, and Crooker pleaded guilty. The new charge carries a potential sentence of up to one year in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000 and a requirement to register with the Nebraska Sexual Offender Registry. There is no minimum.

If he had been convicted of the original Class 2 felony charge, he faced up to 50 years in prison, with a minimum of one year, and would have been subject to the Nebraska Sexual Offender Registration Act for a minimum of 25 years, with a potential lifetime registration order.

Crooker asked to be sentenced immediately. Kube denied the request and set sentencing Feb. 26.

“I am uncomfortable going forward with sentencing, since there is a prior (sexual assault conviction),” Kube told Crooker. “You may be heard on bond; I understand you expected release today.”

Unable to post bond, Crooker had been incarcerated since his August arrest. Bond was originally set at $100,000, 10% cash, and subsequently reduced to $75,000, 10%, in the county court. It was increased to $150,000, !0%, by Kube when he arraigned Crooker in district court Oct. 30.

Carney asked the judge to consider a personal recognizance bond. He said there were “simply no finances,” that Crooker had been receiving disability benefits prior to his arrest, which “generally stops during incarceration.” Crooker said he would live with his parents at Ainsworth and look for work.

Kube reduced bond to $25,000 personal recognizance and said Crooker would be released from jail that day.

Bond conditions include no contact, direct or indirect, with the victim in the case.