Jay Griggs
WABASH CO.—A former Mt. Carmel church deacon is free pending sentencing following a sex charge conviction in a bench trial by Richland County judge Larry Dunn.
Jay Griggs, 48, of Mt. Carmel, was found guilty yesterday by Dunn of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse after six days of testimony that commenced January 29, and ended yesterday, February 5, 2013, in Wabash County circuit court, with the verdict of guilty. The accusations came from an 11-year-old girl, who claimed she had been molested at Griggs’ home on East Fifth Street on Thanksgiving Day 2010.
In support of the accusations as well as in defense of Griggs, 28 witnesses were brought to the trial…including the victim, and Griggs himself.
In the end, however, it made no difference to Dunn, who said that he believed the young girl in her testimony, as well as her mother, who testified as to the day she learned that the girl had been molested.
Interestingly, the ISP special agent who’s involved in his own significant legal matters over his bizarre behavior, Rick White, was the case agent, as he is in many sexual assault or abuse cases. White reported that during his interview with Griggs in the case in late 2011, Griggs never denied the accusations. However, White continues to come increasingly under fire because he just doesn’t do things at ISP the way most agents—and most cops, in general—do. And if his own proceedings this week are any indication, that may come back to bite him on the ass in the future.
Griggs could be sentenced from three to seven years in DOC. However, despite the request of prosecutor Cassandra Goldman to jail Griggs until sentencing on March 14, Dunn opted to let him be free (on bond) under some strict conditions: he can travel to and from Princeton for work or medical appointments but can otherwise not leave the state; and of course he can have no contact with the victim (as well as a second “accuser,” whose case, for whatever reason, wasn’t charged) or her family, and no alcohol or drugs unless prescribed; and, he can be around no underage children except for his own child or grandchild unless it’s in a public place. He’s lost his passport and FOID card and must give up any firearms in his possession.
This is one of the few actual trials Goldman has handled since she took office in 2008, and even with just a bench trial (as opposed to a jury trial, which would involve voir dire during jury selection), and even then, she couldn’t do it by herself: she had to have the assistance of Lorinda Lamken from the appellate prosecutor’s office, something other area prosecutors don’t generally call upon unless it’s a significant violent crime, like murder or attempted murder.
Sentencing on March 14 will be held at 2 p.m.