State v. Clegg

[¶ 1.] Defendant pleaded no contest to sexual contact with a child to take the benefit of a plea agreement, whereupon charges for other sexual offenses were dismissed. A court-appointed expert who performed a sex offender evaluation questioned defendant’s amenability to rehabilitation because he denied committing any sex offense. Defendant contends that the court in accepting his no-contest plea im-permissibly considered his denial of guilt in imposing sentence. Because a defendant’s denial as it relates to remorse and prospects for rehabilitation is a proper consideration in sentencing, we…