Rape victim to Crump: 'You will know your consequences'
The little girl who William Mark Crump sexually assaulted when she was 5 was too overcome by emotion to give a victim impact statement.
The now 9-year-old, who testified against him, began weeping in 89th District Court upon the reading of the punishment verdict for the 63-year-old Wichita Falls man: automatic life in prison. Family members ushered her out as she shed tears.
But she still had her say through Wichita County Assistant District Attorney Chelsea Carlton.
“How dare you! You did a wrong thing. Now you’ll know your consequences, and you shouldn't have done that to me, and you will spend your life in prison," Carlton said, reading the child's statement.
DA: William Mark Crump will die in prison
After the trial, DA John Gillespie said he hopes the outcome of the case "offers a sense of healing for her, that she was listened to, that she was believed and her life mattered."
Gillespie said he is happy with the sentence for Crump.
"This will be the end of him being able to harm or abuse children," Gillespie said.
Crump will have to serve 35 years before he is eligible for parole, so he will die in prison, Gillespie said.
In a rare moment, jurors elected to remain in court to hear victim impact statements aimed at the man they found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 after an hour of deliberation Wednesday.
The jury took just seven minutes Thursday to determine Crump should serve an automatic life sentence because of two out-of-state convictions from 1997 for child sexual abuse.
A mother confronts Crump
The mother of the Wichita County victim fought tears to give a statement Thursday.
“That day you did what you did to her, you changed her life forever. You took her innocence," the mother said. "She has to live with this the rest of her life.”
She hopes Crump thinks about what he did and comes to know something of what he has put her child through, the mother said. There was one good thing that came out of what happened.
The mother is grateful to have met the woman who was the victim in the North Carolina cases.
"I hope that one day we can forgive you, but it won’t be today," the mother told Crump.
Even when they do forgive him, her child will never forget, she said. Before her other daughter testified, she told her to tell the truth and not say anything about Crump needing to get a life sentence. That was what her daughter wanted.
To Crump: 'What you deserve'
The victim's father also went to the witness box to give a victim impact statement, saying Crump had hurt his kids.
“You're finally getting what you deserve," he said. "No more hurting anybody.”
During the trial, the victim's father testified about witnessing the sexual abuse of his half-sister in the 1990s and then putting a note on the backdoor so his stepmother, who was not home at the time, would know what happened.
He told the jury he gave Crump a second chance, and at one time, he was his best friend.
On Aug. 16, 2020, Crump sexually assaulted the 5-year-old girl while babysitting her and her siblings in his Wichita Falls trailer, according to testimony.
The past catches up with Crump
The North Carolina victim took the stand Tuesday afternoon to testify for the first time ever about Crump. She told jurors that he called her into his bedroom in their rural home when she was 10 or 11.
He sexually assaulted her, saying he was preparing her for womanhood as all fathers do. She had not seen him since the day her mother took her and her sister away in the night to report the assault to police.
During the punishment phase, she told the jury Crump raped her several times.
He was convicted March 13, 1997, in North Carolina for attempted statutory rape, incest and take indecent liberties with a minor.
Gillespie and Assistant DA Matt Shelton requested an enhanced punishment range, based on Crump's incest and take indecent liberties with a minor convictions.
Aggravated sexual assault of a child is punishable by 5 to 99 years or life in prison unless the punishment is enhanced.
Assistant DA: What did Crump learn from past convictions?
Wichita County Senior Assistant Public Defender Marty Cannedy objected to documents for the 1990s convictions, saying they weren't authenticated or certified.
Cannedy's objection came during the testimony of Detective Chad Nelson. He administers the sex-offender program for Wichita Falls police. He confirmed the documents in question were for Crump's past convictions.
Crump has been required to register as a sex offender for life because of his North Carolina crimes. The judge overruled Cannedy's objection.
In closing arguments, Cannedy told jurors prosecutors failed to prove the judgements were authentic. He reminded them Crump's brother testified during the punishment phase that he has family here and took care of his mother until she passed away.
“Obviously, any sentence you give to him at his age may, in effect, be a life sentence," Cannedy said.
Shelton said during closing statements that he couldn't account for why North Carolina officials gave Crump a punishment that amounted to a slap on the wrist.
“What did he learn from that? That he could get away with it,” Shelton said.
He told jurors Crump gave both the 9-year-old victim and the North Carolina victim a life sentence because of what he did.
“He deserves a life sentence, as well,” Shelton said.
Cannedy: Rush to judgement
Before jurors filed back to briefly deliberate on Crump's punishment, he pleaded not true to the enhancement paragraphs based on two out-of-state convictions.
During closing arguments Wednesday for the guilty-not guilty phase, Cannedy argued that there was a rush to judgement because of Crump's criminal history and the stigma attached to it. He originally faced three charges, but only one count remained.
“As this case progressed, things kind of fell apart, a couple of things," Cannedy said. "But they were already committed and had already made their decision, so they kept going forward.”
Cannedy said when you've got your guy, there's no need to investigate.
“He did it 25 years ago. He’s already been convicted," Cannedy told the jury.
He noted the girl came up with accusations against Crump in Wichita County after talking with a big sister, who said it had happened to her.
Cannedy called the 9-year-old victim's memory into question.
“Is that memory real? We don’t know,” Cannedy told the jury.
Shelton: Crump's victims have similar stories
Shelton told jurors the victim remembered things Crump said to her about how babies are made and that she was wearing a unicorn shirt that night.
“This isn’t a case of mistaken identity. We know who we’re talking about," Shelton said.
He told jurors they heard from a woman who had never met the 9-year-old until the week of the trial, and their stories of child sexual abuse were similar.
Shelton urged them to find Crump guilty.
“You’re going to tell the people of Wichita County that you’re not going to put up with people like him doing what he’s done," he said.
Jury selection took place Monday, and testimony began Tuesday morning. The jury found Crump guilty Wednesday and determined his punishment Thursday.
Also Thursday, Barnard formally sentenced Crump to life in prison. He dabbed at his eyes with a tissue as deputies led him away from 89th District Court to begin serving a life sentence.
Friday morning, Crump remained in the Wichita County Detention Center, pending transfer to prison.
Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent work here. Her X handle is @Trishapedia
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Rape victim to William Mark Crump: 'You will know your consequences'
