Missing Mom Pleads Not Guilty in Sex Case

(Madison, Nebraska) A 38-year-old woman from the rural town (pop. about 1,000) of Battle Creek, Tammy Walnofer, faces a charge of sexual assault of a 15-year-old boy in a relationship which occurred two years ago.

This case is odd since Walnofer was listed as a missing person from May 2006 to March 2007. She apparently took off to parts unknown, taking her teenage daughter, Kylee Walnofer, without telling anyone. Their car was found abandoned in May 2006 in Logan, Utah.

Interestingly, some insight into the thinking of Walnofer and her daughter is illustrated by the statements of Norfolk, NE, Police Detective Joe O’Brien.

O'Brien said the Walnofer women had an interesting relationship and were more like best friends than mother/daughter. He said Tammy Walnofer mostly spent time with her daughter and her male friends.

After interviewing Kylee Walnofer's school friends, O'Brien said, he discovered that Kylee would often talk about her and her mother running away to Texas.

Authorities and concerned citizens searched for a year before they were found in March 2007 at a motel in Oxnard, California. Arrested on a charge of sexual assault of a minor, Tammy Walnofer was held in a California prison before being extradited back to Madison County, Nebraska.

In July 2007, a preliminary hearing was held in Madison County Court.

A former Norfolk Police Investigator took the stand to answer questions about his investigation involving an "intimate relationship" between Walnofer and a 15-year-old juvenile male who was staying in a group home.

He said the boy filed a complaint with the sheriff's department telling them that he was in an inappropriate sexual relationship.

A judge indicated that there was probable cause to have the case heard in District Court.

Today, it's reported that Tammy Walnofer pleaded not guilty to first-degree sexual assault. Her trial is scheduled for next month. Daughter Kylee Walnofer is in the care of her grandparents.


[Update 8/26/08]

From Norfolk Daily News:

A Norfolk woman accused of first-degree sexual assault of a minor has entered a no contest plea to a lesser charge.

The Madison County Attorney's Office filed an amended charge of child abuse Friday morning against Tammy Walnofer, 38, of Norfolk in Madison County District Court here.

Consequently, the court found Walnofer guilty of felony child abuse. Sentencing has been scheduled for October 20.


[Update 11/12/08]

Walnofer sentenced to prison.