BEEVILLE (TX)
Beeville Bee-Picayune
October 17, 2019
By Gary Kent
Bee County District Attorney José Aliseda announced recently that the 13th Court of Appeals has upheld the early March 2018 conviction of a former Catholic priest here.
Stephen Tarleton Dougherty had been charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child in 2016 and indicted in June of that year.
Although the defendant’s initial trial ended in a mistrial in March 2017, the second trial started in early 2018 for the first degree felony offense when he was 61 years old.
Jurors deliberated close to three hours before returning to 156th District Court Judge Patrick Flanigan’s courtroom with a guilty verdict.
Jurors then returned after less than 40 minutes with a recommendation for a 60-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine.
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