Trooper sentenced to year in jail for sexual assault

By Jim Adams, Star Tribune

Last update: July 7, 2006 - 1:25 PM

A decorated former state trooper was sentenced Friday to a year in jail, 3,000 hours of community service and 30 years probation for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl who was babysitting his son.

Scott Trautner, 41, of Woodbury, was convicted in April of first-degree criminal sexual conduct by a Washington County Judge after he waived a jury trial. He resigned from the state patrol in December.

Trautner, who faced a sentence of 12 years under state guidelines, was found amenable to treatment by Judge Thomas Armstrong. Armstrong also ordered him to get a psycho-sexual evaluation and follow all treatment recommendations, pay more than $2,900 in restitution and a $5,000 fine. He was ordered to have no contact with the victim and register as a sex offender.

Armstrong said in court Friday that he relied heavily on the opinion of psychologists who assessed Trautner and Trautners remorseful conduct since the trial.

Trautner, who had testified that the girl lied about the assault, apologized to her and her family in court and gave a glimpse into the stressful job he has had for 22 years as a state trooper who saw two suicides and responded to numerous fatal accidents.

His attorney, John Pecchia, said Trautner has been diagnosed since the assault and is receiving disability payments for post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Trautner said the stress led to a depression that he blames for assaulting the girl in his Woodbury home while his wife, also a state trooper, slept upstairs.

I thought I could deny the depression. I spiraled out of control. I never thought from what happened that I would do this to (the victim), Trautner said.

After the sentencing, Pecchia said justice had been served

The victim and her mother, who is a Minneapolis police officer, had no comment after the sentencing.

Prosecutor Peter Ivy said afterward there is nothing happy about a case like this.

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