Former Chouteau reserve deputy to be sentenced

Former Chouteau reserve deputy to be sentenced

Zach White

Cecil Worsley, a former Chouteau County reserve deputy from Fort Benton, is being sentenced next Tuesday, Jan. 18, for a felony charge of sexual assault on a pree-teen victim.

He was arrested in June for sexual intercourse without consent, but pleaded no contest in a plea agreement to a reduced charge of sexual assault.

As is, the current penalty is a between four and 100 years in prison, though the judge can offer a sentence outside of this range, if circumstances show exception.

According to Chouteau County Attorney Steve Gannon, Worsley was arrested on a similar charge, with the same victim, in Great Falls around the same time as the one in Fort Benton.

Gannon said that he worked with Great Falls attorneys and agreed to handle Worsley in Chouteau County. The Great Falls charges were dropped.

Chouteau County Sheriff Vern Burdick said that Worsley had completed a reserve deputy training course about a year and a half ago.

He had since been activated twice, with another deputy in Big Sandy.

When the sheriff heard about what had happened he told Worsley to bring in his uniform and badge.

"As soon as we had the victims bring these allegations forward, we removed him and stopped using him, " Burdick said.

The assault occurred on a camping trip with family friends in the Shonkin area.

The victim's mother said that this was not the first time that Worsley had done these sorts of acts, and they felt it was important to report it.

"We just wanted to make sure he isn't able to do this to anyone else's kids, " the mother said.

Cecil Worsley, a former Chouteau County reserve deputy from Fort Benton, is being sentenced next Tuesday, Jan. 18, for a felony charge of sexual assault on a pree-teen victim.

He was arrested in June for sexual intercourse without consent, but pleaded no contest in a plea agreement to a reduced charge of sexual assault.

As is, the current penalty is a between four and 100 years in prison, though the judge can offer a sentence outside of this range, if circumstances show exception.

According to Chouteau County Attorney Steve Gannon, Worsley was arrested on a similar charge, with the same victim, in Great Falls around the same time as the one in Fort Benton.

Gannon said that he worked with Great Falls attorneys and agreed to handle Worsley in Chouteau County. The Great Falls charges were dropped.

Chouteau County Sheriff Vern Burdick said that Worsley had completed a reserve deputy training course about a year and a half ago.

He had since been activated twice, with another deputy in Big Sandy.

When the sheriff heard about what had happened he told Worsley to bring in his uniform and badge.

"As soon as we had the victims bring these allegations forward, we removed him and stopped using him, " Burdick said.

The assault occurred on a camping trip with family friends in the Shonkin area.

The victim's mother said that this was not the first time that Worsley had done these sorts of acts, and they felt it was important to report it.

"We just wanted to make sure he isn't able to do this to anyone else's kids, " the mother said.