Man gets probation for illegal relationship with teen in 2019
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REXBURG — A Rexburg man will spend time on probation after an illegal sexual relationship with a teenager.
Trever Liebert, 24, was sentenced to three years probation after earlier pleading guilty to felony injury to a child. District Judge Steven Boyce handed down the sentence on March 22, suspending a two-and-a-half to five-year prison sentence. If Liebert fails probation he could still serve the underlying prison sentence.
According to court records, a pre-sentence investigation recommended probation as the best sentence for Liebert.
As part of a plea agreement signed in November, Madison County prosecutors amended a charge of felony rape where the victim is 16 or 17 and the perpetrator is three or more years older to a felony injury to a child charge.
Under Idaho law, it is illegal for an adult to engage in sex with a 16 or 17-year-old when they are three or more years older, even if the sex is consensual. It’s Idaho’s equivalent of other state’s statutory rape charge.
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Investigators arrested a then 22-year-old Liebert in 2019 after a then 17-year-old victim told the Rexburg Police Department about having a sexual relationship with Liebert.
Initially, Liebert denied the encounters. When pushed further by detectives, Liebert admitted to having sex with the victim multiple times in his bedroom.
In addition to probation, Liebert will have to complete 50 hours of community service and pay a $1,000 fine. He will not have to register as a sex offender since he was not convicted of a sex crime.