A 36-year-old man has been spared from jail time after being convicted on rape charges.
Benjamin Lawrence Petty, a 36 year-old man from Oklahoma was sentenced to 15 years probation for raping a 13 year-old girl while he was a cook at a summer camp, according to local media reports.
It shocks me still, but he was spared jail time after being convicted on rape charges, because he is legally blind.
Petty's crime took place in 2016 when he was a cook for a camp for children. According to reports he invited the 13 year-old to watch him perform magic tricks.
David Pyle, District Attorney for Murray County said that Petty's blindness, along with the fact that the family lives in Texas and didn't want to travel back and forth for a trial, played a huge role in the decision not to send Petty to jail. Eventually, the family gave permission to Mr. Pyle's office to pursue a plea deal.
When Benjamin Lawrence Petty invited the 13 year-old to watch him perform magic tricks, he pulled the young girl into a cabin, tied her hands behind her back, and then raped her.