By Lucky Kidd
PAWNEE COUNTY, Kan. — A Great Bend Man who entered an “Alford Plea” to aggravated indecent liberties with a child involving incidents occurring in Larned between 2016 and 2017 was sentenced Tuesday to just over 26 ½ years in prison.
Shelby Lee Starr was sentenced by Pawnee County District Judge Bruce Gatterman after entering the plea in April where he registered a formal admission of guilt while at the same time expressing innocence to an allegation, taking a known sentence rather than taking their chance in a criminal jury trial.
The incidents came to light after a referral by a mandatory reporter in February, 2023, after which an investigation was launched by the Larned Police Department and Kansas Department for Children and Families.
Under a plea agreement, one of two original charges was dismissed, the other reduced from the original Jessica’s Law offense. Starr also waived all appeal rights and to a standard sentence under Kansas Sentencing guidelines. Pawnee County Attorney Douglas McNett told he court he had consulted with the victim and her family, and they were in support of the plea agreement.
Prior to sentencing Judge Gatterman denied a pro se motion by Starr to withdraw his plea. Starr claimed he did not understand that his juvenile history would be scored as part of his criminal history, upon which his sentence would be largely based.
To impose the sentence, which was greater than called for under the plea agreement, Judge Gatterman first on his own motion imposed a downward departure sentence to 160 months. He then found that, because of a prior sex offense conviction from 1999, that sentence would be doubled to 320 months, or 26 years and 8 months in the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Once released from prison, Starr will be on lifetime post release supervision and will be required to register as a sexual offender for life.