Aconvicted sex offender has been sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to a new sex offense and admitting to violating his probation on past offenses.

Bruce Hohbein, 22, pleaded guilty Tuesday to corruption of a minor, a Class Cfelony. South Central District Judge Robert Wefald sentenced him to two years in prison with credit for time he has served since he was arrested in September.

Morton County Assistant State's Attorney Brian Grosinger said Hohbein was charged for having sex with a 15-year-old girl on three occasions in September in Glen Ullin. Hohbein originally was charged with three counts of corruption of a minor, but two counts were dismissed because all three were part of the "same course of conduct," Grosinger said.

Hohbein also admitted to nine allegations in two petitions to revoke his probation. He was on probation after spending about one year in prison for four gross sexual imposition convictions.

Grosinger and Burleigh County Assistant State's Attorney Cynthia Feland both moved to revoke Hohbein's probation.

Wefald sentenced Hohbein to 15 years with all but 66 months suspended and credit for 18 months served on the probation violations. The resultant four-year sentence will be served after the two-year sentence for corruption of a minor, and Hohbein will be on supervised probation for five years following his release.

Feland said Hohbein gave alcohol to and had sex with a minor girl in the original gross sexual imposition convictions, which is the same conduct that brought on the charge of corruption of a minor.

"Clearly, he hasn't made any efforts to modify his behavior," she said.

Tom Dickson, Hohbein's defense attorney, recommended Hohbein be resentenced to supervised probation. Dickson called three witnesses during the hearing: Weigel; Dr. Ed Kehrwald, a clinical psychologist for West Central Human Service Center; and Michelle Hohbein, Bruce Hohbein's mother.

Kehrwald said he had performed a sex offender evaluation on Hohbein on Dec. 8. He said he felt Hohbein would be a good candidate for outpatient sex offender treatment. Hohbein has sexual interest in adult and adolescent females, "and that is a normal finding on this test,"Kehrwald said.

Under cross examination by Grosinger and Feland, Kehrwald said Hohbein had trouble explaining why his actions were wrong. Kehrwald also said he had not taken into consideration Hohbein's past offenses when determining his risk level, but he still felt Hohbein could be treated in an outpatient facility.

Weigel said attempts were made to set up treatment sessions for Hohbein after his release from prison last February, but the treatment facilitator never contacted Hohbein.

"It is not Bruce's fault,"Weigel said.

He said he evaluated Hohbein using two sex offender risk assessments. Hohbein scored on the high end of a moderate-risk scale on one test and on the low end of the high-risk scale on the other. The tests measure how likely a person is to commit another sex offense.

The Department of Corrections will recommend a civil commitment, which is a closed civil process, for Hohbein, Weigel said. He explained after the hearing that a civil commitment involves a court ordering a person to have inpatient treatment at the state hospital until the person is deemed safe enough to release. Grosinger said the state has never released a sex offender who has been civilly committed.

Michelle Hohbein, who lives in Mandan, said her son had learning problems from an early age, as well as coordination problems.

"This isn't about sex for him - it's about not thinking," she said. "I will definitely admit he needs help."

Michelle Hohbein said her son lived with her following his release from prison. She said she was gone on a business trip for two weeks when the incidents leading to the corruption of a minor charge occurred.

"We should not have left him alone," she said, crying.

Hohbein apologized for his actions while crying. "I let my whole family down and everybody I love,"he said.

Wefald said he was troubled by the fact that Hohbein had reoffended within eight months of his release.

"The problem is public safety," he said before handing down his sentence.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)