Brandon M. Bergman

WARSAW — A 19-year-old Warsaw man was sentenced to two years in the Kosciusko County Jail in a sexual misconduct case involving a minor.

Brandon M. Bergman, 19, 3311 Oak Pointe Crossing, Warsaw, will serve one year in the Kosciusko County Jail with one year suspended, to be served on probation. He is also ordered to comply with the rules for a sex offender and to attend sessions at the Bowen Center for sex crimes.

Bergman was sentenced in Kosciusko County Superior Court I, Judge David Cates presiding. On Jan. 14, Bergman submitted a plea agreement asking to be placed on probation, rather than serving jail time. He cited that incarceration would invite hardship on he and his wife, who has a 4-month-old child.

Cates, however, was not impressed, calling Bergman out on comments he had made earlier about the victim.

“I’m absolutely appalled that you would imply that this is in any way, shape or form the victim’s fault,” he said. “That implies to me that you just don’t get it.”

As Ink Free News previously reported, Bergman first met the minor via Facebook, whom he claimed he thought was 17 but who was, in actuality, 14. They met in December and engaged in sexual intercourse. The two had previously met in October, though nothing had taken place at the time.

Bergman was initially charged with sexual misconduct with a minor, a level 5 felony.