STAR VALLEY, WYO – A man accused of snatching a minor on August 23 and later assaulting another woman in Afton has finally been identified as Shane T. Nielsen, 33, of Grover, Wyoming.
Nielsen’s identity was protected under state statute until his arraignment Monday, where in District Court in Kemmerer, he entered a plea of not guilty to two counts of kidnapping and one count of sexual assault in the third degree. Nielsen remains incarcerated in the Lincoln County Detention Center and awaits trial scheduled for January 22, 2018.
In Wyoming, third-degree sexual assault is classified as a felony “when a perpetrator subjects a victim to sexual contact under any of the circumstances listed in the first or second degree sexual assault laws but does not inflict sexual intrusion on the victim and does not cause serious bodily injury.” Third-degree sexual assault has a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison.
The charges stem from an August 26 arrest, days after Nielsen allegedly abducted a teen girl by forcing her into his truck. She was able to escape later in Smoot, Wyoming. The assailant then reportedly returned to Afton where he physically assaulted a female clerk in the back room of an unnamed retail shop.
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