Rural Alaska blog: The Village : Alakanuk man sentenced to 99 years for sexual assault, incest

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Kyle Hopkins

I was born in Sitka, have lived in Kake, Skagway and Fairbanks and joined the ADN in 2005 after writing for the Anchorage Press and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. I started blogging for the paper in 2006 with The Trail, our blog about the governor's race. Then came the Alaska Politics blog. Now I'm covering government and rural affairs and live in Anchorage with my wife, Rebecca. (Update: Our daughter Alice was born May 31. Thanks everyone for the suggestions.) E-mail me at khopkins@adn.com and find me on Twitter at twitter.com/ADNVillage.

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Rural blog: The Village

Alakanuk man sentenced to 99 years for sexual assault, incest

Posted by thevillage

Posted: July 17, 2009 - 3:54 pm

Comments (0) |

This from the Department of Law, today:

Bethel – John Leopold of Alakanuk has been sentenced to 99 years in prison for sexual assault in the first degree and incest.

Superior Court Judge Leonard Devaney imposed the sentence Thursday, based upon Leopold’s convictions after a jury trial in Bethel in April on those counts and on sexual assault in the second degree.

Leopold had two prior felony convictions, for sexual assault in the second degree and assault in the third degree. At Thursday’s sentencing hearing, reports indicated that he had victimized at least six people in incidents of sexual assault or sexual abuse dating from 1986.

Leopold’s sentence is literally 99 years as, due to a prior sexual assault felony, he will not be able to accrue “good time.”

“This was a significant case for the Bethel area,” said prosecutor Dwayne McConnell. “I have been prosecuting for 25 years, and I hope this sends a message to sex offenders that they can never see freedom again if they re-offend.”

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