A Waseca man who sexually assaulted and took pictures of an 11-year-old girl in September 2016 was sentenced to 12 years in prison Friday in Freeborn County District Court.

Brandon Lee Boyum, 36, was sentenced by Judge Steven Schwab after he pleaded guilty in May 2017 to first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was given credit for 544 days served and will serve his sentence at Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud.

Boyum is expected to serve at least eight years in prison before he is placed on supervised release.

Sentencing was scheduled for November but was delayed after more than 27,000 images of child and adult pornography were found on Boyum’s computer.

Prior to sentencing, Boyum addressed the court, apologizing multiple times for sexually assaulting the girl.

“Nothing I say is going to change anything, I know that much,” he said.

“I’m sorry for all of the pain I caused everybody.”

Boyum said he could not imagine the fear, nightmares and intimidation he caused the victim to experience. 

“This is an awful event that shouldn’t have ever happened,” he said.

In a statement read by Assistant Freeborn County Attorney Jennifer Clements, the victim said the sexual assault changed her life, resulting in her becoming more fearful of everyday situations.

“I hope the man gets lots and lots and lots of years in prison,” she said.

The Tribune does not name victims of sexual assault, and does not name family members of victims in order to keep them from being identified.

In a spoken statement prior to sentencing, a family member described the pain the victim is going through because of the incident and requested Schwab give Boyum a “long, severe sentence.”

Another family member said his “heart immediately sank” when he heard the girl was assaulted, adding it was hard to maintain a calm composure with the amount of anger he felt.

“You stole her dignity, her pride and her innocence,” the man said, taking issue with Boyum’s request for a probationary sentence.

“Brandon, when you asked for a departure, it gave me nightmares,” he said.

In arguing for Boyum to be placed on probation, his lawyer, Jeremy Clinefelter, said sentences should be carried out in an objective way, not from fear or anger. He said Boyum is amenable to probation and has expressed remorse for the incident, adding once caught, sex offenders have relatively low recidivism rates.

Clinefelter said the details of the sexual assault, Boyum’s lack of criminal history and stringent probation requirements should result in his being placed on probation.

In arguing for Boyum to be sentenced to more than 14 years in prison, Clements said he would not be amenable to probation, noting Boyum described being disturbed by his thoughts of children but did not seek help.

Clements said Boyum’s family had not learned of the extent of the assault and cited the details of the incident as reasons why he should not be placed on probation.

“The assault was very much planned,” Clements said.

In testimony prior to sentencing, marriage and family therapist Marie Grace, who performed a psychosexual evaluation on Boyum, said he was at average risk to reoffend. She deemed him appropriate for community-based treatment and cited Boyum taking responsibility for the incident and his lack of criminal record as factors.

She expressed concern that Boyum, who she described as having pro-social features, could become more anti-social because of other prisoners.

In implementing the mandatory minimum sentence, Schwab said he reviewed Boyum’s possible attributes, the details of the sexual assault and knowledge that Boyum had images of child pornography on his computer, which Schwab said showed the sexual assault was not a one-time lapse in judgment.

“I have come to the conclusion that the act of the defendant was the act of a pedophile,” he said.

After sentencing, Clements said she believed “justice is being served for the victim and her family,” and it was the proper sentence.

Clinefelter declined to comment after sentencing.