Edgerton Man Sentenced to 22-27 Years for Child Sexual Abuse

An Edgerton man who sexually abused a girl under 18 for five years will spend 22 to 27 years in the Wyoming State Penitentiary, according to the sentence handed down by a Natrona County District Court judge on Thursday.

Etienne Iriberry, 47, pleaded guilty in April to one count of first degree sexual abuse of a minor, and two other related charges were dismissed.

During the nearly hour-and-a-half long sentencing hearing, the victim and another person gave victim impact statements about what they endured.

"He never said he was sorry," one of them said.

Psychologist Dr. Amanda Turlington from Sheridan testified by videoconference on behalf of Iriberry and his attorney Steve Titus about her findings from a psychosexual evaluation. She said he was a sexual deviant and a pedophile, and had an ongoing pattern of wanting to be the center of attention. But Turlington added that he was a low risk-taker and there was no evidence that he engaged in predatory behavior.

Turlington said rehabilitation depends on the person. Because only one in five people with his issues receive appropriate treatment, incarcerating Iriberry probably means he will not receive the help he needs, she added.

Assistant District Attorney Kevin Taheri responded the psychosexual evaluation is among a number of factors regarding Iriberry's sentence, not considering what was written in his presentence investigation.

"It's heartbreaking here," Taheri said. "It's heartbreaking to what happened to this young lady."

Taheri sharply disagreed with Turlington's comment that Iriberry was not a predator, saying he abused the girl for five years.

Iriberry told investigators that he made poor choices, but he blamed the victim for what happened, Taheri said. "He knew what he was doing was wrong."

Defense attorney Titus asked John for a lenient sentence.

Iriberry choked up when he told Johnson he was sorry for what happened to everyone involved and that he wanted to get better.

In handing down her sentence, Johnson said she believes in rehabilitation, but Iriberry damaged a lot of people.

"You stole this child's future," she said.

Johnson then sentenced him to 22 years to 27 years, which was what the prosecution said it wanted during Iriberry's change of plea in April.

The case started on Aug. 23, 2021, when the Casper Public Safety Communications Center received a call from a juvenile female who was born in 2004 and said she had been molested for five years, according to the affidavit supporting the criminal complaint.

A Natrona County Sheriff's investigator and a Sheriff's sergeant and a Wyoming Department of Family Services investigator went to Edgerton and took a report from the girl.

She said the last time she was forced to have sex was four days earlier. The sexual contact over the past five years was never violent, but Iriberry would use his bodyweight -- the affidavit says he weighs 300 pounds -- to hold her down.

She later told authorities during a forensic interview at the Casper Children's Advocacy Project that he began "'grooming'" her at the age of 10 and the first time they had intercourse was in December 2018.

After that interview, investigators contacted Iriberry and told him he needed to be interviewed. He went to the Natrona County Sheriff's Office the next day, and was told he was not under arrest.

Iriberry told investigators that the girl had "numerous mental health and behavioral diagnoses, stating she was extremely manipulative and had Reactive Attachment Disorder, meaning she did not form healthy boundaries in her relationships," according to the affidavit.

His other statements corroborated what the girl said during her forensic interview at the Children's Advocacy Project, according to the affidavit.

Keeping to their word, Sheriff's investigators allowed him to leave.

But later that afternoon, Sheriff's deputies went to Iriberry's residence in Edgerton and arrested him.