LLANO — A 37-year-old man convicted by a Llano County jury on three counts of indecency with a child will spend up to 50 years behind bars, the district attorney said Friday.
Kenneth Dale Wooten was accused of molesting a 9-year-old girl multiple times in November 2009.
“This is a case where the punishment definitely fits the crime,” District Attorney Sam Oatman said. “The jury had four charges to consider — aggravated sexual assault of a child, which is a first-degree felony and three indecency (with a child) charges which are second-degree felonies. They convicted him on the three indecency charges and gave him 15 (years), 15 (years) and 20 (years) on each conviction.”
The jury returned the verdict Wednesday during a trial in 424th state District Judge Dan Mills’ court.
In previous years, Wooten’s sentences would have run concurrently — at the same time — so the most he would have spent behind bars is 20 years, Oatman said. However, changes in the law by the Legislature in 2007 now allow district attorneys to ask a judge to “stack” the prison sentences in situations such as Wooten’s cases.
Wooten pleaded not guilty Monday when the trial began before a jury of 10 men and two women.
