A plea deal has been reached between prosecutors and a former Tennessee sheriff’s deputy accused of raping a 14-year-old girl multiple times. The deal will keep him out of prison and off the sex offender list, according to reports.
Lawyers for Brian O. Beck, 47, confirmed on Monday to NBC News that both sides had agreed to the deal on Feb 28.
In June 2018, Beck was indicted by a grand jury on the charges of aggravated assault, sexual battery by an authority figure, and rape, Shelby County court documents said.
But now, the plea deal will have Beck plead guilty only to felony aggravated assault and not require him to register as a sex offender.
Beck will serve a sentence that includes supervised probation for three years and a suspension of a four-year prison sentence unless he violates the terms of his probation, NBC News reported.
His lawyer, Leslie Ballin, confirmed that Beck had been accused of raping a 14-year-old girl numerous times, but Beck says that he is innocent.
Beck reportedly agreed to the plea deal because the felony aggravated assault is a lesser charge and he did not want to leave his fate in the hands of a jury.
“This was a best-interest plea,” Ballin said. “He decided that he didn’t want to take a chance to have 12 people decide the case. … Mr. Beck maintained his innocence all the way through, even last Monday when the judge accepted his guilty plea.”
Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weitich was the lead prosecutor and shared that a trial was not an option because of the evidence.
“Given the totality of evidence, we ethically could not proceed to trial on the indicted offenses,” Weitich said in a statement. “The decision was made in consultation with the victim.”
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