A Beulah man has been sentenced to prison and probation for sexual conduct involving minors.
Shawn McLaughlin pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to use a minor in a sexual performance and two counts of luring minors by computer. In exchange, prosecutors dropped two other charges.
The agreement called for McLaughlin to serve three years in prison followed by three years of supervised probation on the most serious charge -- attempting to use a minor in a sexual performance. He was sentenced to one year in prison followed by five years of supervised probation on each of the luring charges. All of the prison sentences and probationary periods will run at the same time. He will be given credit for 239 days he's been in custody since his arrest.
He also must complete sex offender treatment while in prison. Upon his release he will be required to register as a sex offender for a minimum of 15 years.Â
People are also reading…
Burleigh County Assistant State's Attorney Gabrielle Goter said the sentences followed a presentence investigation.Â
"He does have a criminal history," she said of McLaughlin. "It's all over the board, but he has been incarcerated before, and he has been revoked before."
South Central District Judge Jackson Lofgren on Tuesday accepted the agreement, calling the prison time "fairly significant."
Lofgren also ordered McLaughlin to receive a chemical dependency evaluation and receive any recommended treatment for what McLaughlin himself described in the presentence report as an addiction issue.
"The PSI does provide some background," Lofgren said. "Perhaps those treatments will help Mr. McLaughlin with impulse control."
McLaughlin's charges stem from a series of social media communications he had between March and August of 2023 with what he thought was a 16-year-old girl but was actually Bismarck police, according to an affidavit.
Messages sent by McLaughlin to the social media profile reportedly contained sexually explicit content including photos of himself, which the affidavit states were used by authorities to determine McLaughlin's identity.
The document states McLaughlin made plans to meet with the purported girl and other underage teens at a park in Beulah, then return to his house to engage in sex. Police watched Mclaughlin leave his house on foot while talking on a cellphone, and McLaughlin fled from officers after they identified themselves, according to the affidavit. While fleeing, McLaughlin reportedly threw the phone onto the roof of a building, where it was recovered and used to positively identify him as having had communications with the fictitious teenage girl.