A 36-year-old Montezuma County man will be sentenced next month on a sex-abuse charge. The victim was the defendant’s underage daughter.

According to court records, Craig Sharp of County Road N was initially charged with four counts of sexual assault on a child stemming from multiple incidents that occurred June 22 to July 13, 2013.

In February, Sharp pleaded guilty to criminal attempt to commit sexual assault on a child. The initial charges were dismissed as a result of the plea deal. He will be sentenced at 10 a.m. June 19.

Under the plea deal, Sharp could receive six months in community corrections, six years of supervised probation and ordered to sex-offender treatment, according to court records. Sharp will also be required to register as a sex offender.

In a letter to the court, the victim, who is less than 15 years old, requested that Sharp receive five to 10 years in prison.

In a separate letter to the court, the mother of the victim wrote that a six-month sentence for Sharp was not fair, considering that her daughter must now live with a “lifelong sentence.”

According to a redacted copy of the arrest warrant, the victim refused to discuss the alleged crimes, stating, “She couldn’t talk about it,” but the victim did agree to write down details for investigators from the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office.

After the sex abuse, the victim told investigators that Sharp asked her not to say anything, “because he would be in trouble and go to jail.”

Sharp has been in custody since last summer on a $50,000 bond.

tbaker@cortezjournal.com