Wakefield gets 2 life terms in child sex case

A Young County jury on Friday handed down two life sentences and a hefty fine for an Olney man accused of sexually abusing a child in 2022.

The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for more than five hours before convicting Seth Cody Wakefield, 34, of two felony counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

He was arrested on June 11, 2022, following an Olney Police investigation into an outcry by the 14-year-old victim.

The conviction came after more than four days of witness testimony, including multiple visits to the witness stand by Olney Police Det. Dustin Hudson as defense attorney Cora Moore questioned the processing of evidence, clothing, and DNA samples taken in a forensic exam at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth and in a search of Mr. Wakefield’s home on West Church Street.

Ms. Moore noted that the chain of events that led to the charges against Mr. Wakefield began after he was pulled over by Archer City Police and charged with marijuana possession with the victim and her two-year-old brother in the vehicle.

“Somebody driving down the road doing pot with a 14-year-old and a two-year-old in the car is not good evidence of my client’s character but doesn’t mean the prosecutor has evidence that he did what they are accusing him of,” she told the jury in her closing argument.

The victim made an outcry about the abuse to a family friend she was staying with after Mr. Wakefield was jailed as a result of the traffic stop, prosecutors said. The girl’s mother was jailed on child endangerment charges a couple of months before the abuse was revealed, police said.

Virginia’s House in Graham arranged a forensic interview and a court-appointed special advocate (CASA) representative for the victim as well as the support for the victim’s younger siblings. All three of the children have since been placed with foster-adoptive families in Young County, said Rebecca Navarro, director of programming for Virginia’s House.

Prosecutors urged jurors to “make Feb. 9 mean something to this child.”

“This child has had to live a hell for the past few years of her life,” Assistant District Attorney Jamie Petruzzi told the jury in her closing argument.

Olney Police Chief Dan Birbeck, who with Det. Hudson led the investigation, said the stiff sentence should be a warning to other child sex predators in Young County. The conviction is the third major case that Olney Police have handled in the past year, including those of Andrew Garibay, sentenced to 70 years, and Justin Snow, sentenced to 45 years on child sex charges. Terry Joe Ward of Olney and Michael Lee Moore of Newcastle are awaiting trial on child sex charges.

“If you offend in Young County, you’re going to pay a severe penalty for your actions,” Olney Police Chief Dan Birbeck said. “The Olney Police Department takes these crimes very seriously and we will seek justice for our victims.”