35-year-old Kevin Tuckfield was sentenced in Kenai Superior Court on September 22nd by Judge Lance Joanis to a composite sentence of 100 years to serve for first degree sexual assault and third degree assault. The convictions relate to events that occurred in 2014 when Tuckfield is accused of sexually assaulting a female civilian employee working in the Spring Creek Correctional Center library, according to the Alaska Department of Law. Tuckfield was incarcerated at the time serving a prior sentence for sexual assault.
A Kenai jury found Tuckfield guilty of the charges following a trial in Kenai. The jury also convicted Tuckfield of two counts of second degree sexual assault related to the same incident. Those counts, however, were merged with the first degree sexual assault charge at sentencing, and the conduct related to those convictions was taken into account in the sentence for the sexual assault charge. The Department of Law says that because this was Tuckfield’s third felony sexual offense conviction he faced a presumptive sentence of 99 years to serve for the first degree sexual assault, the maximum sentence allowable in Alaska for a single offense. The judge imposed the maximum 99 years for the sexual assault, and imposed one additional year of consecutive jail time for the third degree assault conviction.
The case was prosecuted by various members of the Kenai District Attorney Office, including former Assistant District Attorney Julia Hosmer who tried the case, and District Attorney Scot H. Leaders who argued the case at sentencing.
