Teenage abuse case cancelled after Mendon man accepts plea deal

LOGAN — The child abuse trial for Ray N. Lemon has been cancelled after the 41-year-old Mendon man accepted a plea deal. He previously was charged with one count of inflicting serious physical injury intentionally on a child, a second-degree felony.

Lemon appeared in 1st District Court Tuesday morning. He pleaded no contest to one count of child abuse, amended to a class B misdemeanor. The no contest plea is a plea used as an alternative to a guilty or not guilty plea, whereby he neither disputes nor admits to the crime.

In October 2016, police responded to a Logan storage unit after a woman called to report that her teenage daughter was being assaulted. They found Lemon and two teenagers, a girl and boy. As the officer interviewed the juveniles, they admitted that the defendant had struck the girl. She also had signs of abuse on her body. Lemon was arrested in November and later released on $5,000 bail.

During Tuesday’s hearing, state attorney Barbara Lachmar said the victim claimed that she was often kicked and hit by the defendant. She showed Judge Brian Cannell photos of the 13-year-old’s injuries.

While taking Lemon’s plea, Judge Cannell said prosecutors had provided sufficient evidence to show a crime was committed. He asked the defendant if he understood that a no contest plea had the same effect as pleading guilty.

Lemon replied that he did.

Judge Cannell cancelled the one-day jury trial, scheduled for July 26. He ordered Lemon to appear again in court on September 5 to be sentenced.

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