CHEYENNE (WNE) — After more than two years of legal proceedings, Peter Summerhawk, 48, of Cheyenne was sentenced Wednesday in Laramie County District Court to 15-20 years in prison.

Summerhawk pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a child and one count of third-degree sexual abuse of a child.

In August 2020, Cheyenne police received a report that Summerhawk had been sexually assaulting a juvenile for several months.

Following a thorough investigation, Cheyenne police detectives sent a detailed five-page affidavit of probable cause to the Laramie County District Attorney’s office on Oct. 29, 2020. Additionally, a 32-page investigative report was also completed and submitted on Nov. 2, 2020. 

More than seven months later, on June 8, 2021, detectives received a “declination of case” letter, signed by former District Attorney Leigh Ann Manlove, indicating that the case could not be prosecuted because additional information was needed. 

However, detectives were not contacted regarding these questions prior to an email dated June 7, 2021.

Manlove has faced scrutiny for allegations that she mishandled the prosecution of cases and inappropriately dismissed certain cases and that she created a hostile work environment. The Wyoming Supreme Court is currently deliberating Manlove’s potential penalty after the State Bar’s Board of Professional Responsibility recommended disbarment.

In response, on Aug. 10, 2021, former City Attorney Mike O’Donnell, on behalf of the Cheyenne Police Department, filed a petition requesting that the prosecution be reassigned to the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office.

Approximately one month after O’Donnell’s petition, his successor, City Attorney Stefanie Boster, filed an amended petition providing additional information.

In November 2021, a judge granted the city’s request to have the Attorney General’s Office review and prosecute the case, which resulted in Summerhawk’s guilty plea.