By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A 77-year-old Yale man accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a female relative between the ages of 5 and 12 in his home was convicted Thursday by a Payne County jury, which recommended he be sentenced to 25 years in prison and given a $500 fine.
Jerry Martin Gustafson remains held in the Payne County Jail pending his sentencing on July 6 by Associate District Judge Stephen Kistler, who ordered a background report of him, court records show.
The girl’s parents reported the sexual abuse to Payne County Sheriff’s Investigator Brandon Myers on Sept. 12, 2019, his affidavit said.
When the girl was interviewed at the Saville Center in Stillwater on Sept. 17, 2019, she disclosed that the defendant had been molesting her since she was 5, according to Myers’ affidavit.
The girl’s mother “reported to me that she had found a text message from him to her on her phone and that he would guilt-trip her into coming over,” which the girl did not want to do, Myers wrote in his affidavit.
The defendant was arrested on Sept. 19, 2019, and jailed on $50,000 bail, which the judge refused to reduce, according to court records.
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