Claremore Man Convicted of Molesting Girl for Two Years

A Rogers County jury has found a Claremore man guilty of four counts related to the sexual abuse of a young girl over the course of two years.

Gary Dumont Riggs, 70, is convicted of one count of lewd molestation, two counts of first degree rape, and one count of first degree rape by instrumentation.Prosecutors say Riggs began sexually abusing the girl when she was 12 years old, and the rape and molestation continued for the next two years, untilshe was 14.

The jury recommended a sentence of 20 years in prison for lewd molestation and a sentence of life without parole for each of the rape charges.

Riggs was charged with sexual battery in 2010, but that case was ultimately dismissed. He was convicted in 1989 of two counts of making indecent phonecalls. Initially, he was sentenced to four years in prison for that case, but he later withdrew his guilty plea and his sentence was amended.

Lewd molestation is known in the state statutes as "lewd or indecent proposals or acts to a child under 16." Found in 21 O.S. � 1123,this law prohibits a broad range of sexually motivated acts or suggestions involving minors under the age of 16, the age of legal consent in Oklahoma:

• Make any oral, written, or electronic proposal to engage in sexual activity with any person. Even if the person to whom the proposal is made is anadult posing as a child (such as in a law enforcement sting), a person can be convicted for making a lewd proposal to someone he or she believesis a minor.
• Touch, feel, or "look upon" the body or private parts of a minor in a lewd or lascivious manner, an indecent manner, or any manner relating to sexualinterest
• Ask, entice, or persuade a minor to go to a secluded place with the intent to commit a crime against public decency
• Urinate, defecate, or ejaculate upon or in the presence of a child for the purpose of sexual gratification
• Cause or force a minor to look upon the body or private parts of another person
• Force or require a minor to look at pornography or other materials deemed harmful to minors
• Cause, expose, or force a child to look upon sexual acts performed in the presence of the child
• Force or require a child to touch or feel his or her own body or private parts or those of another person

Lewd molestation is punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison unless the minor involved is under the age of 12. In that case, it is punishable by aminimum of 25 years in prison.

First degree rape carries a maximum sentence of life without parole.