SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) - A Nebraska Panhandle woman accused of trying to extort money from a man convicted of groping her 7-year-old daughter is taking a plea deal, prosecutors say.
The 30-year-old woman had pleaded not guilty to trying to extort money from Jason Frei, 56, of Potter. Cheyenne County prosecutors said earlier this week that a new plea from the woman will be entered in court records within a few weeks. Details haven’t been released.
The Associated Press isn’t identifying the woman in order to protect her daughter’s privacy. The woman’s trial was scheduled to begin May 27.
Frei pleaded no contest to negligent child abuse and attempted witness tampering in December. Prosecutors lowered the original charge he faced, sexually assaulting a child, in exchange for Frei’s pleas. His sentencing was set for April 2 but has been delayed.
Authorities say Frei groped the girl while giving her mother a massage at his home in August. Court documents say the woman reported the Aug. 15 incident to the Cheyenne County Sheriff’s Office the next day.
In court affidavits, investigators said they obtained complete text records from Frei’s and the woman’s cellphone companies. Those texts showed an exchange that included his admission that he touched the girl and the woman’s statement that she wanted money to get help for her daughter.
In another message, according to the records, Frei promised the woman she’d get her money. Her response: “I only want cash and your messages and mine will be deleted.”
Frei later told an investigator that the woman was extorting $20,000 from him and that he’d already paid $10,000.
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