Julian Monson

A Powers Lake man was sentenced to 15 years Wednesday on 11 felony and five misdemeanor counts in three separate cases involving offenses against minors.

Julian Raymond Monson, 19, Powers Lake, entered into a plea agreement with the Ward County State’s Attorney’s office and pleaded guilty to the 16 counts in December 2024. Monson originally was facing 55 felonies and six misdemeanors, but the majority were dismissed in accordance with the plea agreement.

Monson pleaded guilty to one count of use of a minor in a sexual performance, a Class A felony; two counts of promoting a sexual performance by a minor, a Class B felony; surreptitious intrusion-installing device-minor victim, six counts of possession of certain materials prohibited, promoting obscenity to minors, all Class C felonies; three counts of luring minors by computer, and two counts of corruption of a minor, all Class A misdemeanors.

North Central District Judge Doug Mattson sentenced Monson to 20 years with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for the Class A felony count, with five years suspended. Monson was also given concurrent sentences of 10 years with five years suspended for the Class B felonies, five years with the DOCR for the Class C felonies, along with 360 days in the Ward County Jail for the misdemeanors. Monson was given credit for 451 days for time served and earned good time.

Mattson ordered Monson to complete three years of supervised probation upon release, with another five to be served consecutively for the count of surreptitious intrusion. Monson will be required to register as a sex offender, and his cell phone will be forfeited to the Ward County Sheriff’s Office for destruction. Monson also was ordered to have no contact with the victims, and to maintain a 200 foot distance.

Monson was assessed $1,025 in court fines and fees.

Monson was arrested in May 2024 after an investigation by the Ward County Sheriff’s Office into reports from two juvenile female victims. The victims alleged Monson communicated with them on social media and pressured them into sexual activity. The third case stemmed from additional communications discovered on his cell phone with a third juvenile female victim.

Mattson reviewed written impact statements and the presentence investigation before making the sentence official, noting that Monson was found to have a high likelihood of reoffending, and the victims and their parents had asked for a maximum sentence.

“There is a bit of a frustration. The court has had a look at what the victims indicated here. My frustrations are certainly not with the victim’s mother or the family and focused solely on the defendant. His conduct was called predatory and it does meet that category,” Mattson said. Mattson acknowledged that Monson’s age and the recommended sentence was only asking for 15 years but said he hoped Monson would be assigned a lifetime on the sex offender registry when he is released.

“The defendant is so self indulgent, so blinded, so driven by his selfish desires he had no expectation that somebody would have negative consequences but him,” Mattson said. “Based upon my review of these files I do not favor him being paroled out early. Sadly, from what I see here, you’ve earned it – the 15 years, if not more, of incarceration. I think you should serve it.”