Laramie Man Convicted of Sexual Assault Sentenced to Five to Ten Years In Prison
A Laramie man found guilty of first degree sexual assault was sentenced Friday in Albany County District Court.
Travis Bogard, 26, was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison, with credit for time served.
Prosecuting attorney Peggy Trent addressed the court during the sentencing. Trent said that the state, based on the pre-sentence investigation, did not believe that probation was appropriate in Bogard’s case.
Trent said that due to the violent nature of the crime –and the physical and psychological injuries caused to the victim – that Bogard should receive incarceration. Trent said the victim was a “victim, now survivor.” Trent said one of the factors involved in sentencing – deterrence- was significant in this case, to send a message to the community and encourage other women who are victims of sexual assault to come forward.
Trent said that even after the jury had reached a decision and convicted Bogard, he hadn’t accepted responsibility for his actions. Trent said in psychosexual evaluation, Bogard blamed his size, saying that was what intimidated the victim. Trent said during the evaluation, Bogard said he ‘saw the victim freeze.’
“He saw the victim freeze and continued to violently sexually assault her,” Trent said.
Trent cited the psychosexual evaluation, saying that Dr. Chuck Denison wrote that Bogard engaged in risky sexual behavior.
The victim made a statement at the sentencing. She said as a result of the crime, her life had been uprooted. She said she suffered from severe anxiety as a result of the attacks and had frequent panic attacks.
She said she had withdrawn from school at the University of Wyoming, because she was unable to focus on school and said the trial had been extremely hard on her and made her relive the crime many times. She asked the court to impose the full sentence on Bogard.
Albany County District Judge Tori Kricken told the victim that she knew how hard the trials had been on her. Kricken said that Trent had described the victim as a survivor and that it was now up to the victim to embrace that term and that with some work, she could still be successful and have a bright future.
Bogard also made a statement to the court.
“I’m sorry for the trauma I inflicted,” Bogard said. Bogard said he never wanted to cause anyone trauma.
Bogard’s attorney, Vaughn Neubauer, addressed the court and said he was very concerned with is how much to court bases its sentencing on deterrence, the two kinds of deterrence being general - where the public is deterred from committing a similar crime– and specific, where the defendant is deterred from repeating his actions.
Neubauer said while the court needed to consider deterrence in sentencing, he said that the high-profile manner of the case provided significant general deterrence already. Neubauer said Bogard’s felony conviction had already supplied a significant amount of specific deterrence.
“If we stopped at this point, this young man is already a cautionary tale,” Neubauer said.
Neubauer said that before the events of Oct. 29, 2016, Bogard had a bright future and a good job lined up at an accounting firm in Cheyenne.
“He is now a convicted violent felon,” Neubauer said. “And the sex offender registry is for life.”
Neubauer also pointed out that Bogard had no prior criminal history, which was unusual for someone convicted of sexual assault.
Before delivering the sentence, Judge Kricken said the court had considered all levels of sentencing, from probation to the maximum prison sentence. She said that while the court acknowledged that Bogard was an unusual case, having no criminal history, she believed in the verdict of the jury and that a conviction for first degree sexual assault was warranted.
“This is not behavior that can be shrugged off,” Kricken said.
Kricken said a period of probation was not warranted in Bogard’s case and handed down the sentence of five to 10 years. Kricken told Bogard that the sentence was not everything and that he could still take control of his life and have a bright future once again.
Bogard was found guilty of sexual assault during his trial in October, after a previous trial had ended in a mistrial. The jury ruled that he was not guilty of an additional kidnapping and confinement charge.
Bogard was arrested after a Laramie Police officer responded to a report of a sexual assault at the Ranger Bar on Oct. 29 at about 2:30 a.m. The victim told the officer that Bogard had held her against her will in the women’s bathroom and sexually assaulted her, court documents state.