McALESTER —
On Thursday, a Pittsburg County District Court jury found a Krebs man guilty of a child molestation charge.
Leslie D. Wolfenbarger Sr., age 62, faced a jury Wednesday and Thursday after being accused of inappropriately touching the private areas of a five-year-old girl.
After deliberating for less than three hours, the jury came back with the guilty verdict.
This was the second trial of this nature for Wolfenbarger this year. In January, he was acquitted by a jury of similar charges. In that case, in which he had been accused of soliciting a 13-year-old girl for sex, the jury deliberated for less than one hour before coming back with a not guilty verdict.
After the jury gave the verdict, they recommended that Wolfenbarger be sentenced to one year, the minimum required sentence for the charge he was convicted of.
The one-year sentence was accepted by the court. “He was sentenced tonight,” District 18 Assistant District Attorney Wesley Cherry told the News-Capital Thursday evening. “He is now in the custody of the Pittsburg County Sheriff’s Office.”
Cherry said Wolfenbarger was also ordered to lifetime registration as a Level III sexual offender, Cherry said.
When asked how she felt about the verdict, the young victim’s mother said she wished Wolfenbarger would have received a longer sentence. “But I am glad he has to register, so he can’t hurt anymore children.”
Contact Rachel Petersen at rpetersen@mcalesternews.com.
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