John Jefferson
Dustin Peoples (Blount County Sheriff’s Office).
An Alabama man will likely spend significant time in prison after he repeatedly forced a child to perform sexual acts on him in exchange for allowing her to play video games on her console system.
Dustin Lamar Peoples, 43, was found guilty by a jury in Blount County this week on one count each of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12 and sodomy in the first degree. The former is a Class B felony, while the latter is a Class A felony in the Yellowhammer State.
Content warning: child sexual abuse.
In March 2019, the victim came forward, alleging Peoples abused her from Aug. 7, 2018, through Christmas that year.
Days later, the girl was interviewed at the Blount County Children’s Center.
“She spoke as a child. As an innocent child,” Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey said in a statement provided to AL.com. “Dustin Peoples stole this child’s innocence.”
First, the girl confided in an adult she trusted and then later made the official report, Casey told People magazine.
The defendant was indicted in August 2019 — but remained on bail pending trial.
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The Trial was quick. Proceedings began Monday.
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that the defendant touched the girl’s genitals with his hands. He also forced her to perform oral sex in exchange for video game access at least four times.
The victim herself described the abuse during the trial.
“This young lady appeared at the Children’s Center when she was just 10 years old. She did her best to explain the things that had been done to her using terms she understood at the time,” Casey added. “She was innocent. She did not know the common words that adults or even teenagers would use to describe what had happened to her.”
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The defendant reportedly took the stand in his own defense and denied any wrongdoing with regard to the child.
Jurors, however, apparently did not believe him.
After the conviction, Presiding 41st Circuit Judge Gregory Reid remanded Peoples to the custody of the Blount County Sheriff’s Office, pending a sentencing hearing slated for Nov. 19.
The defendant faces a minimum sentence of 20 years in state prison — and a maximum sentence of life behind bars.
Typically, a Class A felony would carry a minimum 10-year prison term — with a Class B felony carrying a minimum 2-year term — but due to the girl’s exceedingly young age at the time of the abuse, Peoples faces harsher mandatory punishment.
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