Brandon Kissinger is pictured during a hearing on Jun 13, 2025, in Douglas County Court.

A Lawrence man was sentenced to three years of probation on Friday in Douglas County District Court for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.

Brandon Warren Kissinger, 32, was originally charged in Douglas County District Court with one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and two counts of indecent liberties with a child, all felonies. The charges were in connection with a series of incidents between January and March 2021, and charging documents said all of the incidents involved the same 15-year-old girl.

In February, Kissinger pleaded guilty to one count of sexually motivated aggravated battery, as the Journal-World reported. The additional charges were dismissed as a part of a plea agreement with the state.

Judge Stacey Donovan sentenced Kissinger on Friday to three years in prison, which she then suspended to three years of probation. She said she found that Kissinger was engaged in multiple programs that would help rehabilitate him better than prison would.

In addition to his probation term, Kissinger must register as a sex offender for 15 years, Donovan said.

Kissinger’s attorney, Angela Keck, argued that Kissinger was a good candidate for probation since he had been on bond for more than four years and had not been accused of any other crimes in that time. She said he had been attending therapy for his multiple mental health diagnoses, including depression and PTSD. She said Kissinger had also received reports from two psychologists that said he was not likely to reoffend.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal objected to the probation sentence and said that Kissinger was not a good candidate for probation. He said that although Kissinger did not have a history of major criminal violations, he did have misdemeanor convictions for domestic battery and endangering a child, for which he also received probation. Leal said that despite Kissinger’s time on probation in those cases, he still committed a sex crime against a minor.

The girl did not appear at the sentencing. Before Kissinger was sentenced, he apologized to the girl and her family and said that he “did not mean to hurt anyone.”