ROCKINGHAM — The former Richmond County corrections officer who in October was charged with a slew of sex crimes involving a child was convicted of one of those charges this week.
Jerry Wayne Patterson, 67, of Wellington Drive in Hamlet, pleaded guilty to one felony count of first-degree statutory sex offence with a child by an adult which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Patterson has been sentenced to between 144 months (12 years) and 233 months (19 years and five months) in prison as a result of his accepting of responsibility.
Patterson must also register as a sex offender for 30 years. The child was nine years old at the time of the offenses, according to court records.
The offense Patterson pleaded guilty to is said to have occurred between Sept. 1, 2016 and Feb. 1, 2017. The judge dismissed nine other felony counts of statutory sexual offense with a child by an adult and 10 felony counts of indecent liberties with a child.
The judge recommended that Patterson be segregated from the general prison population due to him being a former corrections officer and now being a convicted child sex offender, according to court documents.
Hamlet Police Department spokesman Capt. Randy Dover said in October that the victim’s father reported Patterson to the police.
Patterson worked for the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office as a full-time jail security officer from Oct. 21, 2009 to Dec. 29, 2015, according to Richmond County Human Resources.
N.C. General Statute 14-201.1 defines this charge as when a person “willfully takes or attempts to take any immoral, improper or indecent liberties with any child of either sex under the age of 16 years for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire; or willfully commits or attempts to commit any lewd or lascivious act upon or with the body or any part or member of the body of any child of either sex under the age of 16 years.”
Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety show Patterson has no previous convictions in North Carolina.