Priest enters no contest plea News-Chronicle The Rev. James Stein, a Norbertine priest accused of sexual assault involving a child, entered a no contest plea to the charge in Brown County Circuit Court on Monday, avoiding a trial that would have started today. Stein pleaded no contest to one of three counts of second-degree sexual assault, a felony. The other two counts were dismissed in the plea bargain by Judge Sue Bischel. Stein faces up to 10 years in prison. Sentencing will take place sometime in December. Police said Stein fondled a 14-year-old boy at the St. Norbert Abbey in De Pere in 1988. The defense had tried to have the case dismissed, arguing the statute of limitations had expired, but a judge ruled the statute was frozen for a period of time when Stein lived outside of Wisconsin. Stein's attorney, Stephen Glynn, said the priest is pleading no contest instead of guilty not to avoid responsibility but because there is a concern about civil liability. Under the law, a no contest plea says that the defendant does not admit guilt but will not contest the case.