Tristan Eugene Enck, 37, Kenmare was sentenced on Thursday to 40 years in prison, with a requirement that he first serve 20 years, followed by 10 years of supervised probation, for repeatedly raping a young teenager over the course of five months in 2017.

Enck had entered and Alford plea to Class AA felony continuous sexual abuse of a child in November. He acknowledged he might have been found guilty, but disputes some facts in the case. Sentencing was delayed for eight months because an evaluator was slow in completing a requested pre-sentence investigation, sex offender evaluation and psychological evaluation.

The state had recommended that Enck be sentenced to 30 years in prison and serve 15 years; the defense had recommended that Enck be sentenced to 20 years in prison and serve 10 years. Family members of the victim who testified at the hearing asked that he be sentenced to the maximum – life in prison without parole, while the girl said in a statement read by her counselor that she wants Enck to serve prison time and never wants to see him again. All who testified at the sentencing hearing spoke of the enormous harm Enck has done to the girl and the way he has blighted her emotional health and her relationships with others. The girl was 13 and 14 when Enck, who was in a position of trust to the girl, sexually abused her.

Enck spoke of his hopes to get on with his life, to work and to spend time with his own children if he gets out of prison. He offered no words of apology to the victim. A report prepared by an investigator indicated that Enck seemed to blame the victim for his crimes. North Central District Court Judge Stacy Louser said she was troubled by Enck’s lack of remorse and his seeming ignorance of the seriousness of the crime. She did note that Enck spared the girl the trauma of a trial by changing his plea to guilty and that he has no past criminal record to speak of. An evaluator deemed Enck at low to moderate risk to reoffend.

Louser ordered Enck to have no contact with the victim.

She left restitution open for 90 days. Enck will likely be ordered to pay the victim’s counseling expenses and other expenses. Enck will receive credit for 610 days already served in the Ward County Jail.