Prosecutors are asserting that a 50-year-old Powell man subjected a 19-year-old woman to unwanted sexual contact earlier this year.

Justen D. Overman has been charged with a felony count of third-degree sexual assault and a misdemeanor count of unlawful contact, which allege he kissed and groped the young woman despite her saying no.

Overman was arrested hours after the incident, on March 1, and has been held in the Park County Detention Center since then.

The charges are based almost exclusively on the account the young woman provided to Powell police. Court records do not contain any statements from Overman about the incident and he has yet to enter a plea.

To prove the felony charge, Park County prosecutors will have to show that Overman subjected the woman to sexual contact using “means that would prevent resistance by a victim of ordinary resolution.” At a March 19 preliminary hearing, Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Ericka Smith pointed to allegations that Overman put his hand on the woman’s shoulder, told her to “shut the f— up” and at one point intruded on her in the bathroom.

“The testimony is clear that she did not consent,” Smith said of the woman’s account to police. “She told him to stop several times.”

A prior history

Overman’s bond has been set at $50,000 cash. Smith recommended that sum based not just on the allegations at hand, but crimes Overman committed in the past. He spent roughly four years in state prison for multiple counts of aggravated assault, after he threatened a group of Cody teens with a gun in 2013. Records show Overman was also convicted of misdemeanor attempted fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in Michigan in 1997, when Overman would have been 20 or 21; Smith said the victim was a 13-year-old girl.

Overman had to register as a sex offender after moving to Wyoming, but successfully petitioned to be relieved of that requirement in October 2024.

Although Overman had avoided major trouble since being paroled in 2018, Smith said she believes he’s a danger to the community, a suicide risk and a flight risk, suggesting the $50,000 bond might not be enough.

In contrast, Overman’s court-appointed attorney, Sarah Miles, asked for a $25,000 cash or surety bond. Miles noted Overman’s ties to Powell — including his spouse and mother, who he takes care of — and said a location-tracking ankle monitor could address the prosecution’s concerns.

However, Park County Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah said the $50,000 figure was “absolutely appropriate.”

“I think it probably could be more, but I also don’t believe [Overman] … will be able to post the bond,” Darrah said at the March 19 hearing, “and so I think that addresses my concern for public safety based on his criminal history and based on, what I’ve heard at least, the strength of the case.”

The woman’s report

The 19-year-old woman went to Powell police station on the night of Feb. 28 to report the alleged assault. She said Overman came to her boyfriend’s apartment in Powell that evening, and stayed after her boyfriend left for work, charging documents say.

The woman reported “that she had creepy vibes from [Overman] and that she wasn’t comfortable with him being there,” Powell Police Det. Sgt. Chris Wallace recounted at the preliminary hearing.

However, she didn’t want to be rude, and Overman initially made small talk, Wallace said of the woman’s account. Then the conversation reportedly shifted, with Overman telling the woman she deserved better than her boyfriend and kissing her. The woman told police she found it “disgusting,” but that Overman told her to “shut the f— up.”

He put his hands under her shirt and groped her until she pushed him away, according to her account.

“She recalled him saying, ‘I’m sorry, it won’t happen again,’” Wallace said. 

But according to the woman’s statement, Overman then proceeded to stick his hands into her pants and touch her genitalia.

She then reportedly pushed him away again and went to the restroom. However, while she was on the toilet, she said Overman opened the bathroom door and kissed her one more time, asking her “to please not contact the police.” She told him to leave and he did, Wallace said of the woman’s account.

She subsequently called her boyfriend, who came from work, and went to the police station within a couple of hours, Wallace said.

On cross examination, Overman’s defense attorney asked if the woman said anything about why she didn’t just leave the apartment.

“She said, ‘I just froze. I was scared and I froze,’” Wallace recalled.

Prosecutor Smith said the woman’s response to the situation was reasonable, “given especially that [Overman] is a 50-year-old man, [the alleged victim] is a 19-year-old, very young woman and in an uncomfortable situation to begin with.”

Miles, the defense attorney, didn’t dispute that there was enough evidence for the case to proceed toward a trial in district court. However, she noted that only Wallace’s recitation of the woman’s account had been presented and that “issues of credibility” are addressed at a trial rather than a preliminary hearing.

Overman is set to formally enter a plea to the charges at an April 15 arraignment in Park County District Court, where a trial will be scheduled.