Church Cook Pleads Guilty To Raping Girl; Won't Go To Prison

SULPHUR, OK — An Oklahoma church camp cook pleaded guilty to brutally raping and sodomizing a 13-year-old girl, but he won't serve any prison time under a deal with prosecutors. Among the reasons: He's legally blind and the victim, who lives out-of-state, didn't want to make the trek to court.

Two years ago, Benjamin Lawrence Petty, 36, pulled the girl into his cabin, tied a rope around her wrists, raped her and then threatened to hurt her if she told anyone, authorities said, according to multiple news outlets.

“Petty closed the door to his bedroom, tied [victim’s] hands behind her back, pulled down her jeans, pushed her face down on his bed, and violently raped and sodomized her,” according to court documents reviewed by KFOR-TV.

Petty, of Midwest City, was legally blind when the attack happened, Murray County Assistant District Attorney David Pyle told The Oklahoman.

The prosecutor negotiated a deal with Petty and said Petty's vision impairment was a key factor in his decision not to insist on a prison term.

Petty received a suspended sentence on Jan. 19. He agreed to plead guilty to felonious first-degree rape, forcible sodomy and rape by instrumentation, and was ordered to serve 15 years of probation. Petty must wear an ankle monitor for two years and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, media outlets said.

“The big thing is Mr. Petty is legally blind and the parents (of the victim) live out of state and this little girl lives out of state and didn’t want to make all the travels back and forth,” Pyle told The Oklahoman. “The plea was negotiated with their permission.”

Bruce Robertson, an attorney for the victim in a separate civil case, told The Oklahoman the family agreed to the deal after being told by prosecutors that Petty wouldn't serve any "meaningful prison time" because of his medical conditions.

Photo credit: Oklahoma Department of Corrections