A former Tennessee sheriff’s deputy accused of raping a 14-year-old girl avoided a trial and possible jail time by pleading guilty to an amended charge of aggravated assault in a plea deal for which he was sentenced to three years’ probation and won’t have to register as a sex offender.
“Given the totality of the evidence, we ethically could not proceed to trial on the indicted offenses,” Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich said in a statement emailed to PEOPLE.
She added that the plea offer “was made in consultation with the victim,” who was not named.
Brian Beck, 47, a former deputy with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, pleaded guilty Feb. 28 to one count of aggravated assault under what is called an Alford plea, meaning he maintained his innocence while acknowledging there was enough evidence to convict him, his attorney, Leslie Ballin, tells PEOPLE.
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Beck, of Germantown, was indicted in June 2018 by a grand jury on two counts of rape by force or coercion and two counts of sexual battery by an authority figure. Investigators said the alleged assaults on the victim, then 14, started around May 1, 2016, and continued until around Jan. 1, 2018, reports FOX 13 Memphis.
The alleged victim was a 14-year-old family member of the former deputy, his attorney confirms.
Beck, who had been with the sheriff’s department since 2004, was arraigned, released on bond, and relieved of duty without pay, according to the TV station. But resolution of the charges against him was delayed by COVID, says Ballin.
Last summer the victim’s father, who was not identified by Memphis TV station WMC, expressed frustration with the delay. “I mean, there are damages, you know, major damages and unhappiness,” he said about his daughter. “She just needs some closure.”
Ballin tells PEOPLE that Beck “maintained his innocence but was presented with an opportunity to get this behind him with a guarantee of not going to jail and not being on the sex offender registry,” and so Beck accepted the plea deal, knowing that “a trial had an uncertain result.”
Given that the original charges carried a mandatory minimum prison term, Ballin adds, “the parties reached an agreement that I would say neither side was real happy with.”
Beck still could end up serving four years in prison if he violates the terms of his probation, according to the probation order obtained by PEOPLE. That order prevents him from contact with his victim and requires him to submit to random drug testing and serve 150 hours of community service.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
