JEFFERSON WEBB The man who pleaded guilty to one felony count of lewd acts with a child under age 14 and one misdemeanor count of annoying or molesting a child will not spend any more time in jail. Last week, a Mariposa County Superior Court judge sentenced 74-year-old Jefferson Webb to eight years of formal probation and 46 days in County Jail.

Webb was arrested on July 31, but was subsequently released on Aug. 4 after District Attorney Bob Brown said his office was not prepared to file charges.

The investigation into the alle- gations against Webb continued, and led to evidence that was sufficient enough for Webb to be taken into custody again on Aug. 6. This time, the judge set bail at $500,000. “We believe that because of the number of incidents, it was clearly touching that was inappropriate,” Brown said of the charges that were eventually filed.

The charges lodged against him included indecent exposure in addition to the lewd acts charge. From nearly the beginning of the court proceedings against Webb, his attorney, C. Logan McKechnie, indicated the case would not go to trial. “There will be a deal,” he said in August.

The deal included Webb’s plea to one felony and one misdemeanor. He has already spent that much time in jail, but now he must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Brown said he will be highly supervised during the course of his eight years of probation. Webb must also undergo three years of counseling for sex offenders.

“Our goal was to protect the children from this guy,” Brown said on Tuesday. “With eight years, he will be closely supervised to protect the neighborhood.”