A Casper man was sentenced Tuesday morning in Natrona County District Court to a term of imprisonment for having sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl in 2016.

District Judge Thomas Sullins sentenced 33-year-old Earl Jay Dimas to a term of six to 12 years in prison on one count of third-degree sexual abuse of a minor. In handing down the sentence, Sullins referenced what he called Dimas's "fairly long criminal history."

Dimas was originally charged with four counts, but agreed to enter an Alford plea to the single charge in exchange for the state's dismissal of the remaining three charges.

By entering the Alford plea, Dimas did not admit he had committed the crime, but did concede that the prosecution had enough evidence to secure a conviction at trial.

The case against Dimas stemmed from his relationship with a 15-year-old girl, which was largely comprised of messages exchanged via Facebook beginning Jan. 7, 2016.

In the days following, Dimas discussed having a relationship with the victim and sent her messages referencing his "urges." Later that month, and in February, Dimas asked the victim to send naked photos of herself.

In December 2016, the victim told investigators that she and Dimas had sex three or four times over the course of multiple months. During the police interview, the victim said she knew at that point that Dimas was a sex offender who lived near Natrona County High School.

Detectives contacted Dimas over the phone on January 6 after visiting Dimas's address and not finding him there. Dimas said he was in Cody to see his girlfriend, and had been there for a couple of weeks.

Police told Dimas he was in violation of his sex offender registration, as he was not registered in Cody. A warrant request was filed, and Dimas was arrested Feb. 15, 2017 when he arrived at the Natrona County Sheriff's Office for his three-month check in.

During an interview with detectives, Dimas denied having spent any time with the victim. He also denied having sent her Facebook messages.

Dimas was sentenced July 28 by District Judge Daniel Forgey to a term of 20-48 months imprisonment for failure to register as a sex offender. The prison sentence handed down Tuesday will run concurrent to the previous sentence, meaning Dimas will serve them at the same time.

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