A Pleasant View man and previously convicted sex offender was sentenced June 15 to six years in prison, the maximum allowed under terms of a plea agreement.
In March, Jasper Melton Hurst pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault on a child and second-degree assault.
Twenty-second Judicial District Attorney Jeremy Reed told The Journal Hurst will be placed on sex offender intensive supervision probation for a period of 20 years and will be required to register as a sex offender in addition to his prison sentence.
Hurst entered his plea in Dolores County District Court. Reed said the sentencing allowed the victim to have their life back.
“The wishes of the survivor were of paramount importance. This courageous young person, in discussing the potential plea with the prosecutors and their mother, determined that they no longer wished to allow Jasper Hurst to have any control over their life,” Reed said. “They wanted to move on with their life, to go to prom and enjoy their life.”
He said the victim’s courage resulted in Hurst’s prison and supervision “well into his 60s” and allowed the victim to have agency in their life and to live on their own terms.
The victim’s mother provided The Journal with the victim’s statement to the court.
In the statement, the victim said the damage Hurst caused reaches “far beyond a single victim.”
The case was originally filed in February 2023 but was dismissed. It was refiled in September 2024 and included four counts of sexual assault on a child under 15 by one in a position of trust as part of a pattern of abuse, along with a crime of violence and habitual sexual offender allegations. A trial was originally set for April but was vacated after the plea deal.
According to a redacted arrest affidavit obtained by the Journal earlier this year, Hurst committed multiple incidents of sexual abuse beginning around 2015 or 2016 and continuing into 2022, including inappropriate touching. Hurst threatened to kill the victim and family members if the abuse was reported.
Hurst was previously convicted in Montezuma County of attempted sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust in 2010.
“Assistant District Attorney Justin Pierce and Deputy District Attorney Caroline Davenport, along with our partners at the Child Advocacy Center, Social Services and other members of our community, did a fantastic job of supporting this young survivor, and in pursuing justice against their perpetrator,” Reed said. “The community can be comfortable that for the next 26 years Mr. Hurst will be under very strict supervision and required to register as a sexual offender for the remainder of his life.”
bduran@the-journal.com
