Jerry Curry pleads guilty to abusing his daughters

Jerry Curry, who physically and sexually abused his daughters for several years, pleaded guilty to three charges and is expected to be sentenced to 30 years in prison, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Wednesday.

Curry, who will turn 53 later this month, pleaded guilty to felony charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree assault and gross misdemeanor child endangerment Wednesday afternoon. Sentencing was set for 1 p.m. Feb. 20.

“We are happy that Mr. Curry agreed to plead guilty and accept a long prison term for his crimes,” Freeman said. “That saved his victims from having to testify and relive the horrific times he put them through. This is one of the most revolting cases I have seen and our prosecution team did a terrific job to bring justice for our victims.”

At his hearing, Curry admitted to aggravating circumstances in his crimes. By admitting those, it allowed the final sentence to be higher than the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines would ordinarily recommend. Those aggravating circumstances included that the crime of sexual assault against one of his daughters was committed in the home, where the victim had an expectation of privacy; that the daughter was vulnerable due to physical and mental disabilities and, as her father, was in a position of authority over her.

Curry admitted that on Jan. 1, 2017, he forced his daughter to have sex with him and that she did it because she knew if she did not comply, Curry could seriously hurt her. Curry acknowledged that he had hit another daughter so severely that she suffered eye damage and both daughters were aware of that.

The second charge he pleaded guilty to was for the physical assault on the second daughter. Curry admitted he struck her so hard that it caused blindness in her left eye and there is a low probability that she will ever recover her vision.

Finally, a third daughter, who was only about 10 years old at the time, observed Curry and others physically disciplining the older daughters repeatedly over the span of two years and that would cause her mental and emotional harm. Curry acknowledged that was true and that was child endangerment.

At the sentencing, charges of stalking, another first-degree assault, two counts of criminal abuse by caregiver, another first-degree criminal sexual conduct and a second-degree assault will be dropped.

Curry will serve two-thirds of his time, or 20 years, in prison. He will spend the other 10 years under supervised release and will have to register as a sexual predator.

His wife, Shelia Wilson, who also was charged in the case, pleaded guilty Sept. 19 to felony criminal neglect. Her sentencing is set for March 11.

In addition, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office has filed to terminate Curry's parental rights and those child protection cases are scheduled for trial on May 9 and 24.