A 41-year-old white male who didn’t appear for the last day of his trial for sexually abusing a 6-year-old girl has apparently taken his own life before he could serve any time.
A jury in Galveston, Texas had convicted Richard Jay Duplessis of continuous sexual abuse of a child and sentenced him to life in prison on Thursday, July 20. The defendant, however, wasn’t in court to hear his fate that day. Authorities searched for him — a search that reached a morbid end days later.
“Richard Jay Duplessis was found Tuesday, July 25, hanged, in a home in the 3500 block of Ave. S 1/2, Galveston,” Assistant Criminal District Attorney Brent Haynes wrote in a press statement to Law&Crime. “The decedent’s identify was confirmed by an investigator with the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office. The mother and godmother of the decedent also confirmed the decedent’s identity to the Galveston Police Department.”
During the punishment phase of the pedophile’s trial, jurors took only 10 minutes to decide to sentence him to the maximum possible: life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors said one victim stepped forward on Aug. 12, 2022 to say that Duplessis had sexually assaulted her since she was 6. The abuse began in May 2021 and ended in February 2022, authorities said.
The trial, which began on July 18, showed testimony from two other victims who the pedophile sexually abused when they were children, according to prosecutors.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Raneca Henson said in closing arguments that Duplessis took advantage of the girl’s trust and innocence.
“The State also presented text messages that showed the nature of inappropriate communication the defendant had with the child,” prosecutors said. “The defendant has shown he is a predator, and he preys on young girls that can’t protect themselves.”
There’s no public indication of why the child rapist missed court on the final day of trial. Authorities did not suggest when he hung himself.
When reporters asked where authorities found Duplessis, Haynes replied that the “Galveston District Attorney’s Office was informed that Duplessis was found at his godmother’s house.”
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