Libby man pleads guilty to criminal endangerment of a child

A Libby man charged with criminal endangerment of a child for the second time in less than a decade pleaded guilty last week in Lincoln County District Court.

Steven Wayne Kelley, 52, initially pleaded not guilty in Lincoln County District Court in June to charges of endangerment and driving under the influence (third offense) with a child under 16.

Kelley’s guilty plea was to the endangerment charge. The others were dropped following a plea agreement between the county and the defense.

The verdict will be announced at a later date.

According to the indictment, on May 22, Deputy Brandon Huff received a call about an accident with injuries on Swede Mountain Road. There he found a black Jeep Cherokee off the road among the trees.

A 43-year-old man with blood on his forehead and face was near the vehicle. Kelley, a 12-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy were also present. Huff helped the injured man and spoke with the adults. Both men said Kelley was driving while the two teens were in the back seat, court documents say.

Huff smelled a strong odor of alcohol on the injured man, but Kelley reportedly denied drinking. The officer said Kelley was unsteady on his feet, his speech was slow and deliberate, and seemed slightly slurred. Huff said after Kelley put out a cigarette he had been smoking, he could smell the odor of alcohol on him.

After an ambulance arrived and picked up the injured man and the 12-year-old girl, Huff confronted Kelley and asked him if he had been drinking. The defendant said he had been drinking earlier in the evening.

Kelley agreed to participate in some sobriety tests but refused to provide a breath sample, court documents say.

After a tow truck recovered the Jeep and Deputy Cody DeWitt took the 16-year-old boy home, Huff took Kelley to the county jail, where a breathalyzer test showed a blood alcohol level of .124.

According to Kelley’s criminal record, he has been convicted twice of drunk driving.

According to a 2015 Western News report, Kelley was charged with child endangerment following an incident on July 17, 2015, on U.S. 2 near mile marker 43. According to the indictment, Kelley admitted to taking several prescription drugs while driving with a three-year-old child in the back seat.

The article also stated that Kelley had previously been convicted of drunk driving in Columbia Falls in 2004.