MARSHALL – A Lyon County man received a 12-year prison sentence for charges of criminal sexual conduct on Tuesday, after first trying to withdraw his guilty plea.

Adolfo Gutierrez Avila, 44, of Tracy, appeared in Lyon County District Court on charges of first degree criminal sexual conduct. A criminal complaint, filed in July 2014, alleged that Avila sexually assaulted and fathered a child with a victim younger than 16 in Tracy in 2001. Avila entered a guilty plea to the charges in September. But for Tuesday’s hearing, Avila had filed a motion to withdraw the guilty plea.

Avila told the court the Minnesota statute of limitations had run out on the allegations against him. Citing court documents and an investigator’s report, Avila said Lyon County law enforcement had received a report of criminal sexual conduct in 2011, almost 10 years after the incident was alleged to have happened. The criminal complaint wasn’t filed until 2014.

Lyon County Attorney Rick Maes asked the court to deny Avila’s motion to withdraw a guilty plea, and move forward with sentencing. Maes said the court had already addressed issues with the statute of limitations in Avila’s case. Minnesota law says, in criminal sexual conduct cases with a victim younger than 18, charges must be filed within nine years after the alleged offense, or within three years after the offense is reported to law enforcement, whichever is later.

Avila was representing himself at Tuesday’s hearing. Earlier this month, he had asked to represent himself in court, saying his public defender had failed to investigate information that would help establish a statute of limitations defense. At a Dec. 1 hearing, public defender A.J. Kasprick said he had investigated what Avila asked him to but did not find any information that would be helpful to the case. At that time, the court also found that there were not extraordinary circumstances that would allow for Avila to be given a new public defender.

At Tuesday’s hearing, District Court Judge Leland Bush said he would rely on Minnesota criminal procedures in addressing Avila’s request to withdraw his guilty plea. Criminal procedures say the court may allow a defendant to withdraw a guilty plea, if it is “fair and just” to do so. Bush said he needed to consider the facts of Avila’s case, including a lack of evidence that the statute of limitations had run out, a DNA test establishing the paternity of the child Avila allegedly fathered, and Avila’s prior admissions of guilt during a pre-sentencing investigation. Bush said he did not find it fair to allow Avila to withdraw his guilty plea, and would go on with sentencing.

Avila told the court he hadn’t wanted to sign a plea petition, and that he was concerned for his family.

Avila was sentenced to 144 months in prison, with credit for 254 days already served. Bush said Avila would be required to register as a predatory offender.