A 12-person jury in Grand Forks returned a guilty verdict Friday evening after a three-day trial of a man accused of having sexual contact with a girl over the course of nine years.
Jurors convicted 22-year-old Johnathan Vondal of continual sexual abuse of a child and aggravated assault.
The victim, now 15 years old, told a detective that Vondal began abusing her when she was 5 years old, the detective's report shows. Vondal wrote a letter of apology to the girl, which was seized as evidence, the report states.
Prosecutors said Vondal strangled the girl after she confronted him about the abuse in front of others, leading to the aggravated assault charge.
Vondal, of Grand Forks, is set to be sentenced in November. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the continual sexual abuse charge and five years on the aggravated assault charge.
