Former clerk sentenced to community service for assaulting wife

EPHRATA - Former Grant County Clerk Kenneth Kunes was ordered to complete 240 hours of community service and pay an $800 fine after being convicted of assaulting his estranged wife.

Kunes was convicted of misdemeanor harassment and assault charges last month following a March incident at the house his wife and mother shared, according to court documents.

He was found not guilty by a jury of the more serious felony charges of threatening to kill and imprisoning her, according to court documents.

During the September trial, jurors heard testimony from Kunes' estranged wife that he pinned her down on her bed and threatened to kill her and her dog after she allegedly took a bag that belonged to his friend. The assault left a large bruise on her arm. Kenneth Kunes' attorney said there was indeed evidence of a misdemeanor assault but not felony harassment of imprisonment, according to court documents.

Grant County Superior Court Judge John Knodell sentenced Kunes to 364 days for the gross misdemeanor convictions, with 330 days suspended for two years. Kunes served four days in the same Grant County Jail where he formerly worked as a corrections officer, following the March arrest, according to the county clerk's office. The other 30 days of the sentence was converted to community service.

Kunes had no prior convictions according to court documents.