MONCKS CORNER, S.C. — A Berkeley County jury has convicted a 50-year-old man on multiple child sexual abuse charges, resulting in five life sentences without the possibility of parole after prosecutors said the victim endured years of abuse beginning at just 6 years old.
On Wednesday, a Berkeley County jury found Joseph Ray Truesdell Sr. guilty of five counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, according to the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
The Honorable Jennifer B. McCoy sentenced Truesdell to the maximum punishment allowed under state law — life without parole on each of the five first-degree convictions, along with 15 years in prison for the third-degree conviction.
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The case was prosecuted by Assistant Solicitor Marie Lerch and Special Assistant Solicitor Olivia Lynch of the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office’s Special Victims Unit, with assistance from Investigator Spencer Nieto.
According to prosecutors, jurors heard testimony detailing repeated sexual abuse that began when the victim was 6 years old. During the trial, the jury viewed a forensic interview conducted when the child was 10, along with testimony from law enforcement officers, a forensic interviewer from the Kay Phillips Child Advocacy Center, a pediatric sexual assault nurse practitioner, and an expert on child sexual abuse dynamics.
The victim also testified, as did a friend and teacher who prosecutors said were among the first people the child confided in about the abuse.
Prosecutors said the trial also highlighted the challenges many child victims face after reporting abuse.
Solicitor Scarlett A. Wilson said the victim’s mother repeatedly attempted to pressure the child into recanting the allegations. The mother later pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for her actions but nevertheless testified for the defense during the trial.
“This is a classic example of what too many young victims face: their own parents working to support the child molester,” Wilson said in a statement.
Truesdell testified extensively in his own defense during the trial.
Assistant Solicitor Marie Lerch credited the victim’s willingness to come forward with ultimately securing the conviction.
“Without the victim’s courage in disclosing and testifying at the trial, this Defendant would not have been held accountable for the continued sexual abuse and could have hurt other young children,” Lerch said.
The conviction brings an end to a case that prosecutors said relied heavily on the victim’s testimony, forensic evidence, and the work of investigators and child advocacy professionals.
