Hibbs woman pleads no contest in sex assault
A Hibbs woman charged with statutory sexual assault and indecent assault for alleged sexual misconduct with a child at a residence in Menallen Township entered a general plea of no contest in Fayette County Court on Tuesday.
Dawn Marie Bryner, 36, was charged with statutory sexual assault and indecent assault following an investigation into the alleged incidents by state police Trooper Heather L. Clem-Johnston.
Bryner’s plea comes one day after Elmer Plum, 71, of Menallen Township, pleaded no contest to rape and related charges for his alleged role in the sexual assaults at both locations.
According to a plea deal struck between Plum and Assistant District Attorney Meghann Mikluscak, Plum will spend 10 to 20 years in prison for repeatedly raping and assaulting a boy, who is now 16 years old, and a girl, who is now 11. The Herald-Standard does not identify victims in sexual assault cases.
Mikluscak said that because Bryner entered her plea generally, a plea deal was not in place, and her sentence will be determined by President Judge John F. Wagner Jr.
The boy testified at a preliminary hearing in May that the abuse began in 2003 when he was about 6 years old and continued regularly for years. He testified that Plum raped him multiple times and that the assaults stopped when he was about 11 years old, at which time Plum began to rape the girl, who was 6 years old at the time. He testified that about a year after Plum stopped raping him, Bryner touched him inappropriately while they were seated on a couch and later engaged in sexual intercourse with him.
Joshua Glenn Wolfe, 30, of New Salem was also charged for his alleged role in the case with aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and corruption of minors, Clem-Johnston said.
Wolfe pleaded guilty in September and received a 5-10-year sentence. That sentence is being served concurrently with a sentence of 6 to 12 years handed down in May, after he pleaded guilty in a separate child sexual assault case. Wolfe has been deemed a sexually violent predator and is required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law for the rest of his life.
Bryner and Plum are both scheduled to be sentenced at 9:30 a.m. March 5 before Wagner.