December 27, 2022

(Anchorage, AK) – On December 22, 2022, Superior Court Judge Eric Aarseth sentenced Douglas Sheldon to 25 years with 9 years suspended, 16 years to serve for the crime of attempted sexual assault in the first degree.

Evidence at trial established that Sheldon tried to force his girlfriend to perform fellatio. When his girlfriend tried to leave, Sheldon drug her back into the home by her hair as she screamed for help. A next-door neighbor, hearing the woman’s screams, called 911. Sheldon fled the home just prior to police arriving. Officers from the Anchorage Police Department apprehended Sheldon just blocks from the home.

In sentencing Sheldon, Judge Aarseth found that sexual assaults of this nature involve trying to exert dominance, trying to intimidate, and trying to control another person through violence. Judge Aarseth recognized that Alaska’s legislature focused on community condemnation of sexual assaults and identified the need for longer sentences, especially given Alaska’s high rates of sexual assault as compared to other states.

CONTACT: Anchorage Deputy District Attorney Trina Sears at (907) 269-6341 or trina.sears@alaska.gov for more information.

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6379.