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By Patti Weaver
STILLWATER — A 71-year-old man has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a young relative, who visited his rural Cushing home during the summer of 2023, court records show.
Because Richard Ferris Thackray III does not have an agreement with the prosecution regarding his penalty, he could be given a prison term ranging from 25 years to life.
Payne County Associate District Judge Michael Kulling accepted his guilty plea on June 17 and ordered the state Department of Corrections to prepare a pre-sentencing investigation.
Thackray, who reportedly has re-located, remains free on $15,000 cash bail posted on Sept. 25, 2024, pending an Aug. 5 court appearance at which he could be sentenced.
The child “disclosed that they do not know how many times Richard Ferris Thackray III has sexually abused them because they do not like to think about it,” Payne County Sheriff’s Investigator Lew Kellison alleged in an affidavit.
The child disclosed that “Richard Ferris Thackray III had told them to ‘do things’ since they were as young as 7-years-old and too young to know what they were doing or about ‘private parts,"” the affidavit alleged.
The child disclosed that “they would listen to what Richard Ferris Thackray III told them to do because he was a family member,” the affidavit alleged.
One instance occurred late at night when the child and the defendant were watching television in the summer of 2023, the affidavit alleged.
Another instance occurred that summer in which “Richard Ferris Thackray III told them not to tell anybody because he would get in trouble with the police,” the affidavit alleged.
