An Oklahoma man who is legally blind has been sentenced to probation for raping a 13-year-old Texas girl at a church camp, after prosecutors cited his disability in agreeing to a plea deal that spares him prison time.
Benjamin Lawrence Petty, 36, pleaded guilty to attacking the girl in 2016, while she was attending the Falls Creek church camp in southern Oklahoma.
Petty, who was a cook at the camp, tied a rope around the girl's wrists, raped her and threatened to hurt her if she told anyone, according to investigators, the Daily Mail reports.
Murray County Assistant District Attorney David Pyle said a major factor in his decision not to insist on prison time was that Petty was legally blind, the Oklahoman newspaper reports.
But a group that works to prevent and eliminate sexual and domestic violence said the sentence sends the wrong message.