Clarkston man Edelman sentenced on two cases in unrelated matters

Steven A. Edelman was sentenced to 5-15 years in prison for lewd conduct with a minor and 3-5 years for aggravated assault in two separate cases.

Edelman, 40, of Clarkston, was sentenced Wednesday by 2nd District Judge Mark Monson at the Nez Perce County Courthouse with the sentences to run concurrently.

Edelman was charged with felony lewd conduct with a child under 16 for an incident between Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, 2023, for molesting a child. The maximum penalty for the charge is life in prison as well as a $50,000 fine.

Edelman pleaded guilty in February as part of a rule 11 plea agreement, which the judge has to follow or the guilty plea can be revoked. According to the agreement, Edelman pleaded guilty to one count of lewd conduct with a minor and also pleading guilty to aggravated assault in an unrelated case 2021, with the Nez Perce County Prosecutor’s Office dismissing two other counts. The agreement also outlines the sentence of 5-15 years for the lewd conduct case and 3-5 years for the aggravated assault charge with the two sentences running concurrently. The agreement was signed by Nez Perce County Chief Deputy Prosecutor April Smith, Edelman and Edelman’s public defender at the time, Lawrence Moran, according to court documents.

However, in March after entering the guilty plea, Edelman requested to have his guilty plea revoked and later also requested a new public defender. In his request, he said he was asking to have his guilty plea back because he was innocent, according to court documents. After he entered a guilty plea he received information that a witness recanted statements, according to court documents. Prosecutor’s objected to the request, stating that the guilty plea was made knowingly and voluntarily and there was a factual basis for the charge, according to court documents.

Monson said information from the witness was hearsay evidence and needed further investigation. As far as the guilty plea, Monson wrote that during the change of plea hearing when Edelman pleaded guilty he was asked if he was admitting if the charges were true and Edelman agreed. Monson also noted there were four days between the agreement being signed and the change of plea hearing, which he stated gave him enough time to consider pleading guilty. Monson denied the request to revoke the guilty plea, according to court documents.

Edelman was also given 379 days credit and ordered to pay $300.50 in the lewd conduct case. He was given 459 days credit and ordered to pay $245.50 in the aggravated assault case.