Oklahoma Prosecutor Who Ok'd No Prison In Child Rape Case Resigns

SULPHUR, OK — An Oklahoma prosecutor abruptly resigned following revelations he negotiated a deal that allowed a Midwest City church camp cook to plead guilty to brutally raping a 13-year-old girl and avoid prison time. David Pyle, assistant district attorney in Murray County, resigned on Wednesday, multiple media outlets reported.

District Attorney Craig Ladd announced Pyle’s resignation and said he was unhappy with how the case was handled.

“I want it to be known that I strongly disagree with the lenient manner in which the Benjamin Petty case in Murray County was prosecuted in many respects,” Ladd said in a statement. “The manner in which that case was prosecuted does not reflect my thoughts or position on how rapists, especially those who prey on children, should be dealt with in the criminal justice system.”

Benjamin Lawrence Petty, 36, pleaded guilty to accusations that he pulled a young girl into his cabin, tied a rope around her wrists, raped her and then threatened to hurt her if she told anyone.

"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," court documents said.

Petty, of Midwest City, was legally blind when the attack happened, Pyle said. The prosecutor said Petty's vision impairment was a key factor in his decision not to insist on a prison term.

Photo credit: Oklahoma Department of Corrections