Cañon City man pleads guilty to amended child molestation charges – Canon City Daily Record

A Cañon City man arrested on charges of sexual assault of multiple children and 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child pleaded guilty Monday to amended charges of child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury and three counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

In his original case, 29-year-old Dominque Yazzie was arrested June 4 and charged with four counts of sexual assault of a child, pattern of abuse, each a Class 3 felony; four counts of sexual assault of a child by a person in a position of trust, each a Class 3 felony; and two counts of child abuse, each a Class 2 misdemeanor.

He pleaded guilty to three amended counts of child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury, each a Class 3 felony.

After his arrest, a search warrant was issued for his cell phone on child pornography charges. The search found 827 images of child sexual abuse material involving children as young as infancy and toddlers, the affidavit said.

In that case, Yazzie was charged with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child, each a Class 4 felony.

He pleaded guilty to three of those charges on Monday.

The plea calls for four years in prison for each of the three cases of child abuse, for a total of 12 years, to run consecutively, followed by 12 years of intensive probation for sex offenders.

According to an affidavit, Yazzie moved into the children’s family home in December. The children’s family members addressed the court on Monday expressing disappointment over the agreement.

A family member read a letter from the children’s mother expressing her “deep concern and disappointment” over the changed counts.

“Given the seriousness of the crimes, they are deliberately insufficient,” the letter said. “This is not the first time he has victimized children, his previous offenses have been sealed.”

Yazzie was charged in Las Animal County in 2010 with sexual assault of a child, a pattern of abuse, and the court decided to defer the decision. He also had to register as a sex offender, the affidavit states.

“It has shattered my trust in the system that failed to protect not only my children but also others from them,” the victim’s mother said in the letter. “If his previous file had been made available, I would never have allowed him into my family circle. If he had been required to register as a sex offender past the age of 18, my children would not be living with the trauma they are facing now.”

She asked the court not to dismiss or lessen the child sexual abuse charge.

District Judge Kaitlin Turner said only the district attorney’s office can decide which charges to pursue. Based on a presentence investigation and an offense-specific assessment, their role will be to determine whether the recommended sentence is appropriate.

Yazzie’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 7.