Werling previously was convicted of gross sexual imposition involving a girl in 1996 and attempted rape of a boy in 1999, Judge Stacy Wall said in reviewing his criminal record.
Werling declined comment before sentencing.
Prosecutors did not comment on the case because they had said they would stand silent at sentencing as part of a plea agreement with Werling.
Wall heard comments from the girls and their mother before ordering the sentence. “We have suffered long enough … and now it is time for you to cry,” one of the girls wrote in a statement read by a victim advocate.
Wall said Werling’s offenses involved children known to him. The judge said she received letters in support of Werling as well as those supporting the victims.
“You appear to be almost two different people,” Wall said. Some wrote saying Werling put his wife “on a pedestal” and would do anything to help other people. The other side commented on was “dark” and “extremely ugly,” Wall said.
Werling was sentenced to four years on each of the two charges. Wall ordered him to serve the sentences consecutively, saying, “You are a definite risk to the public.”
Werling will be classified as as Tier II sex offender, requiring him to register his address with the sheriff's office in the county where he lives, following prison release, for 25 years. — NANCY BOWMAN
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