PAWNEE COUNTY — A registered sex offender from Georgia who has been living in Great Bend is going to prison for child sex crimes.
On Tuesday, Pawnee County District Judge Bruce Gatterman sentenced 49-year-old Shelby Lee Star to 26-years in prison in connection with two Jessica’s Law offenses, according to Pawnee County Attorney Doug McNett.
In April, Starr entered an Alford plea of guilt to a single count of Aggravated Indecent Liberties with a child under the age of 14. In addition, the State agreed to allow Starr to be sentenced pursuant to the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines and dismiss the additional count, and not pursue charges regarding a possible additional victim.
The name, Alford plea, is taken from the case North Carolina v. Alford and is sometimes referred to a "best-interests plea," whereby the defendant registers a formal admission of guilt towards charges in criminal court while simultaneously expressing their innocence toward those same charges. An Alford-type guilty plea means the defendant decided it would be better to take a known sentence than to take their chances in a criminal jury trial.
The crimes were alleged to have occurred at a Larned residence between 2016 and 2017. The Larned Police Department and Kansas Department of Child and Family handled the investigation following a referral by a mandatory reporter in February of 2023.
Prior to sentencing, the Court denied the defendant’s pro se motion to withdraw his plea. The defendant argued in part he did not understand that his juvenile record would be scored as part of his criminal history at the time of sentencing.
At the sentencing, defense counsel requested the Court follow the plea agreement and sentence the defendant pursuant to the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines to the standard sentence of 233 months based on the defendant’s criminal history. Under Jessica’s Law, the defendant faced a life sentence with a mandatory requirement he serve a minimum of 25 years. McNett advised the Court that pursuant to the Kansas Crime Victims’ Act he had consulted with the victim and her family prior to entering into plea negotiations, and that they we in support of the presented plea agreement.
After hearing the arguments of counsel, Judge Gatterman on his own motion sentenced Starr to a downward departure sentence of 160 months based on the age of the defendant’s criminal history. However, the Court further found that as a result of the defendant’s prior sex offense conviction which occurred in 1999 that the law required he be sentenced as a persistent sex offender. As such, the sentenced was doubled to 320 months with the Kansas Department of Corrections. The defendant has the ability to earn up to 15% good time credit.
Starr will also be subject to lifetime post-release supervision and lifetime offender registration as a sex offender.