|
|
|
|
Visiting Judge Mark Luitjen accepted the former sheriff’s guilty plea to aggravated perjury. Ratcliff will be under house arrest for the first six months of the sentence. In exchange, Luitjen threw out aggravated sexual assault charges against 50-year-old Ratcliff.
Special prosecutor Terry McDonald said he was pleased with the outcome.
“I don’t think a trial would have been productive,” McDonald said.
In October, Ratcliff was indicted on charges that while sheriff, he sexually assaulted a teenage boy. Ratcliff was District Attorney Stephen Tyler’s chief of staff at the time of the indictment.
The 11-year-old accusation would be impossible to prosecute, McDonald said. His files contained only interviews with Ratcliff’s accuser and no physical evidence, he said.
The now 25-year-old man was arrested after Ratcliff’s July 3 court hearing and is in the Victoria County Jail. The man has been jailed in Victoria County more than 30 times, Luitjen said. The accuser would not make a compelling witness, McDonald said.
The accuser could not be reached for comment Friday.
Under the plea agreement, Ratcliff admitted he lied to the grand jury when asked if he had sexual relations with his accuser. Ratcliff’s lawyer, George Filley III, said his client had an ongoing sexual relationship with the man as an adult.
Filley declined to comment after Friday’s proceedings and his client smiled and waved as he walked away.
McDonald’s recommendations and a sentencing report helped Luitjen decide to accept the plea agreement.
“When a judge comes into the courtroom, he only knows the allegations in the indictment,” Luitjen said.
Luitjen added a few conditions to the plea agreement Friday.
Ratcliff must spend the next six months homebound, monitored by an electronic ankle bracelet. Luitjen could have ordered Ratcliff to stay six months in the county jail, he said, but because Ratcliff is ill, house arrest made more sense.
Ratcliff’s health leaves him “basically unable to do a whole lot of anything,” Filley said.
Uncontrolled seizures strain Ratcliff’s health, Filley said, leaving him unable to drive and the former sheriff is frequently in the hospital. The only time Ratcliff drives is to go to a store around the corner from his house, he said.
“It seems clear to me that he shouldn’t be driving under any circumstances,” Luitjen said. Luitjen ordered Ratcliff to surrender his driver’s license and get rid of his late father’s truck.
Ratcliff also must use filters that block his ability to visit pornographic sites or chatrooms on his computer.
If Ratcliff finishes five years of probation successfully, the judge could terminate the rest of his sentence.
“I will not tolerate you deviating in any significant fashion,” Luitjen said.
Luitjen hesitated before admonishing Ratcliff.
“You have ruined your career,” Luitjen said. “You have violated the public’s trust.”
As the courtroom emptied, Ratcliff stood beside his lawyers. His lips crinkled into an upside-down smile. Ratcliff thanked McDonald.
A probation worker asked Ratcliff if he needed to sit before walking across the street, and if he would be able to tote his heavy, tooled-leather briefcase.