Former UO student Daniel James Ennis, 20, plead guilty to coercion on Monday, court records show. He was sentenced to five years probation and 60 days in jail, which he is eligible to serve through an alternative program.
Ennis was accused of forcing a woman to engage in contact with him by instilling fear of possible violent action in January 2016.
The Register Guard reported that Ennis entered an “Alford” plea deal, a guilty plea in which the defendant asserts innocence but believes the evidence would likely result in a conviction.
The Register Guard also reported that this charge resulted from “some consensual sexual activity” that then went to far at a campus area party. Lane County Assistant District Attorney Katherine Green said in court that other charges could have been pressed, but the victim wanted to get the situation over with an move on, the Guard reported.
Coercion is a class C felony but is not a sex crime, so Ennis will not have to register as a sex offender.
Ennis was a UO student during the fall 2015 and winter 2016 terms, school spokesman Tobin Klinger told the Register Guard.