Those deliberations included the jury asking and receiving the judge’s responses to two questions.
The jury then sentenced 53 year old Dana Pettigrew to 45 years for illegal contact and 20 years for illegal exposure.
Both sentences will be served at the same time.
And Pettigrew is awaiting another trial on a charge of violating a protection order against the child’s mother.
News release from the Brazos County district attorney’s office:
Dana Pettigrew, 53, was sentenced to 45 years in prison on Friday, December 6th by a Brazos County Jury for Indecency with a Child by Sexual Contact. The jury convicted the defendant after deliberating for only 30 minutes. The jury also convicted the defendant of Indecency with a Child by Exposure and sentenced him to the maximum punishment of 20
years in prison for that charge. The two sentences will run concurrently.
Pettigrew was charged with the two Indecency with a Child charges in March of 2023 after a child who lived in his home disclosed that the defendant had touched her inappropriately and exposed himself to her in the past. At the time of the disclosure, Pettigrew was no longer living in the home and was the subject of a protective order against his wife.
In August of 2022, Pettigrew was charged with violating the protective order. Those charges are still pending.
During the trial, the jury heard evidence of domestic violence against the mother of the victim in the case. They also heard testimony from another woman who had been molested by the defendant when she was a teenager in Ohio. She is now an adult.
This additional evidence would not have been possible without the outstanding work of Detective Patricia Marty with the College Station Police Department, the Akron, Ohio Police Department and the Cuyahoga County District Attorney’s Office.
Both young women were able to provide victim impact statements following sentencing.
Statement issued by assistant district attorneys Kara Comte and Tonika Davis: “Believing a child who discloses abuse is the first step to achieving justice. This jury was able to provide much needed closure and justice to two brave girls.”