(6/30/12) 41 year-old Rodney L. Tollefson, the rural Jackson County man, convicted of raping and torturing a relative for years will spend the rest of his life in prison.
The sentence of 115 years was handed down yesterday in Jackson County Circuit Court.
Reports say this morning, he faced more than 30 counts of sexual assault, incest and abuse. "Vicious" and "Sadistic were words used to describe Tollefson by Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Mark L. Goodman.
Judge Goodman also sentenced 30-year-old Jarrod I. Peterson, of Blair, to 5 years in prison and 5 years on extended supervision for raping the girl after he told investigators he raped the girl with Tollefson's encouragement.
The abuse began in 1995 when the girl was 4 years old.
Two other men previously pleaded guilty to abusing the girl, including 22-year-old Phillip L. Ronning, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison on charges of aided first-degree sexual assault and false imprisonment.
Tollefson's brother, 54-year-old Gary W. Tollefson, pleaded guilty in April to two charges of first-degree sexual assault of a child. He will be sentenced in August.
Source: La Crosse Tribune
