A Pleasant View man and previously convicted sex offender pleaded guilty March 23 to felony attempted sexual assault on a child and second-degree assault causing serious bodily injury in a case that alleged repeated abuse of a child under 15.
Jasper Melton Hurst entered the pleas in Dolores County District Court. He faces one to six years in the Colorado Department of Corrections, to be determined at sentencing June 15.
The sentence will be followed by 20 years of sex offender intensive supervised probation and lifetime sex offender registration. Failure to comply with probation could result in an additional five to 16 years in prison.
Chief Judge Todd Plewe of the 22nd Judicial District remanded Hurst into custody after the pleas.
The prosecutor emphasized the victim’s courage in coming forward.
“This case underscores the importance of believing survivors. This young person showed incredible courage coming forward, and I sincerely hope the resolution of this case will offer her a measure of justice,” District Attorney Jeremy Reed told The Journal.
Reed said the plea agreement ensures a prison sentence followed by decades of intensive supervision, with Hurst required to register as a sex offender for life. He credited law enforcement, child advocacy partners and prosecutors for their work on the case, which spanned nearly four years.
The case was filed in February 2023 and later 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, with crime of violence and habitual sexual offender allegations. A trial originally scheduled for April was vacated after the plea.
According to an arrest affidavit, the child disclosed multiple incidents of sexual abuse by Hurst beginning around 2015 or 2016, with incidents continuing into 2022. The disclosures included inappropriate touching.
The child also reported that Hurst threatened to kill the victim and family members if the abuse was reported.
Hurst was previously convicted in Montezuma County in 2010 of attempted sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust.
