photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Adrian Wisdom appears Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, in Douglas County District Court.

A Lawrence man charged with numerous child sex crimes in Douglas County Circuit Court pleaded guilty to two counts of rape as part of a plea agreement Tuesday afternoon, avoiding a jury trial and a possible life sentence.

Adrian Raye Wisdom pleaded guilty to two counts of rape, both level one person felonies, as part of a plea agreement that dropped 13 other charges Widsom was facing. As the Journal-World reported, Wisdom was charged in January 2024 with 15 counts of crimes that included two counts of rape, nine counts of sodomy and four counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, all felonies. Many of those charges were filed as off-grid felonies involving a child under 13, meaning Wisdom could have faced a sentence of life in prison if he was convicted on those charges.

Wisdom’s plea agreement means he will avoid a trial that was scheduled to start Monday, Dec. 1. Senior Assistant District Attorney Todd Hiatt said based on the amended charges, the state would have presented evidence that between May 1, 2023, and Oct. 1, 2023, Wisdom had on one occasion asked the victim to shower with him then “manually forced” the victim’s hand onto his penis, and on another occasion he forced the victim to “get on top” of him as part of a sexual encounter despite the victim reiterating “she did not want to do it.”

Under this amended agreement, the state recommended that Wisdom face 147 months for each count of rape to be served consecutively, meaning he could be potentially be sentenced to 294 months in prison — or 24 and a half years. As part of the agreement, Wisdom and his defense attorney, Michael Clarke, plan to file a motion for a duration departure that would request a sentence of 246 months — 20 and a half years — instead.

Judge Stacey Donovan accepted Wisdom’s plea and noted that she won’t have to follow any requested sentence.

Donovan set a sentencing date in this case for Jan. 16, 2026, at 1:30 p.m.