Osage man accused of sexual abuse pleads guilty to a lesser charge

OSAGE — An Osage man who faced spending the rest of his life in prison on sexual abuse charges has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

22-year-old Marcus McNealy was charged in March of last year with four counts of second-degree sexual abuse for allegedly abusing a child between May 2011 and November 2015. McNealy was charged with an additional four counts of third-degree sexual abuse for committing a sexual act against the will of the same victim between November 2015 and November 2016. If he had been convicted of all the charges, he would have faced a prison term of up to 140 years.

McNealy on Tuesday filed a written plea of guilty in Mitchell County District Court to one count of lascivious acts with a child, a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on June 1st.