Judge orders GPS for elderly man who awaits sentencing

Sentencing on a 90-year-old Tilden man’s latest conviction of violating a harassment protection order was delayed last week after court officials discussed his felony charge in Pierce County.

The Honorable Donna Taylor granted a defense request to delay sentencing for the third time, in Denis Kerkman’s current Antelope County case, after hearing that a felony charge of violating of the same protection order in Pierce County had been bound over to district court. Local sentencing was previously scheduled Feb. 7 and Feb. 21 and was continued each time. He was convicted Jan. 3.

Kerkman appeared in the Antelope County courtroom March 20, alongside Antelope County public defender Pat Carney. Carney requested continuance. Taylor granted the request but added new bond conditions requiring Kerkman wear a GPS monitor until the new April 17 sentencing date.

She ordered that he is not allowed to be in the city of Neligh, except to travel through on highways 14 and 275. When he claimed to attend church services in Neligh, Taylor added an exception allowing him to attend 10 a.m. Sunday services at St. Francis Catholic Church.

Kerkman also claimed he had business to conduct in downtown Neligh, “to pay bills,” and asked, “What if I want to get groceries?”

She said county officials have received calls alleging Kerkman has been driving around his former spouse’s Neligh residence. The judge said people call and ask why the victim is not being protected and she indicated the order also protects the defendant.

“If someone says you are at a place you aren’t supposed to be, you can say, ‘My GPS proves it.’”

Kerkman questioned cost of the monitor.

“I don’t have money to pay for it,” he said.

Taylor recessed court to investigate logistics of application of the monitor and the service’s cost. She instructed Kerkman to take a seat in the gallery. She later ordered $5,000 of his $20,000 bond exonerated to allow a $500 refund to pay monitor program fees.

During recess, Kerkman, from his seat in the gallery, continued voicing claims of injustice to Antelope County Attorney Joe Smith and a county deputy. They both advised him to follow the judge’s instructions.

“I had the sheriff check,” Smith told him. “Make sure you follow the judge’s orders...They have more stuff on you.”

In addition to the current cases in the two counties, Kerkman has twice been convicted of violating the protection order in Pierce County, where he was sentenced to the county jail for 180 days and 270 days. He also has a previous violation conviction in Antelope County, for which he served 51 days in the county jail.

In the current Pierce County felony case, he waived his right to preliminary hearing and awaited arraignment in district court March 28.

The domestic abuse protection order was issued April 13, 2022, and renewed April 13, 2023, in Boone County district court, with Kerkman’s former spouse listed as the protected party. She alleged mental and physical abuse.

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Two defendants had first-offense charges of writing bad checks dismissed after paying restitution and costs. Both said they had attempted to pay restitution but were told to “show up” in court. They each faced up to $1,000 fines and/or six months in jail if convicted of the Class 2 misdemeanor charges. April Barlow of Ewing paid restitution of $146.12 for a check written to Thriftway Market in Neligh on May 16, 2023. Orion Hunt of Columbus paid restitution of $429.70 for a July 6, 2023, check written to Thriftway.

William J. Demerath, 47, of Plainview pleaded guilty, by waiver, to a Class 3 misdemeanor, knowingly authorizing an unlicensed driver to drive a farm truck. He was fined $50 and $49 costs for the March 9 offense, committed west of the 13/20 junction.