Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Criminal Justice topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Defendant pleads guilty to multiple counts, judge imposes concurrent terms and sex-offender registration
Summary
In Cheatham County court, Wesley Montana Sorbonne pleaded guilty to multiple counts including aggravated statutory offenses and electronic exploitation of a minor; the judge imposed concurrent sentences, suspended portions to supervised probation, ordered no contact with the victim and placement on the Tennessee offender registry.
Wesley Montana Sorbonne pleaded guilty in Cheatham County to multiple charges stemming from offenses against a minor, and a judge imposed concurrent sentences that include a 10-year term on one count and shorter concurrent terms on others.
The plea and sentencing hearing was held before the court that accepted Sorbonne’s guilty pleas after the state recited the facts it would have proven at trial. The prosecution said the charges involved sexual contact and digital communications with a 15-year-old victim between July and October 2022, including allegations of digital penetration on multiple occasions and the transmission and solicitation of explicit videos via the Snapchat application.
Under the agreement described on the record, Sorbonne was found guilty on several counts. For three counts described on the transcript as “aggravated statutory” offenses the court imposed sentences of two years each in the Tennessee Department of Corrections, suspended to supervised probation after serving one year day-for-day. On the count described as “exploitation of a minor by electronic means” the court imposed a 10-year sentence with the same one-year day-for-day requirement before suspension to probation; a second electronic-exploitation count carried a one-year sentence. The judge ordered all counts to run concurrently.
The court noted that the sentences are subject to Tennessee release-eligibility rules referenced on the record and that Sorbonne will be placed on the Tennessee offender registry pursuant to the statute cited in the proceedings. The court also ordered no contact between Sorbonne and the victim and indicated a psychosexual evaluation would be required.
At the plea hearing the court confirmed Sorbonne’s understanding of trial rights, plea consequences and collateral effects, including that the convictions will remain on his record and that placement on the offender registry carries separate reporting obligations. Sorbonne acknowledged he was satisfied with counsel and that his plea was voluntary. The court accepted the plea, made the sentencing findings on the record, and remanded Sorbonne to the custody of the sheriff to begin serving the sentence as ordered.
The transcript records the state’s factual proffer that the defendant, then 29, engaged in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old and sent and received sexually explicit images and requests via electronic communication. Those proffered facts were incorporated into the plea acceptance and sentencing.
Court authorities and statutory citations mentioned during the hearing include the Tennessee Code provisions read into the record concerning sentencing ranges and registry placement.
