Wakefield receives two life sentences for child sexual assault

After more than four days of witness testimony and evidence, a jury handed down two life sentences to a man convicted of sexual assault of a child.

Seth Wakefield, 34, of Olney, was found guilty Friday on two counts after five hours of jury deliberation, with the punishment being set after less than 10 minutes.

Wakefield was indicted in July 2022 by a Young County Grand Jury on two separate offenses of sexual assault of a child younger than 17-years-old.

Wakefield was arrested June 11, 2022, and was booked into the Young County Jail on a total bond of $175,000, where he has remained for 609 days. Prior to Wakefield’s arrest, Olney Police Department, assisted by the Young County Sheriff’s Office, executed an early-morning search warrant at a home on West Church Street in Olney.

According to a probable cause affidavit, on June 10, 2022, an OPD detective received a statewide intake for possible sexual abuse of a child. Earlier in the day on June 10, the victim had been taken to Cook Children’s Hospital where an examination was completed and the clothes the victim was wearing after the last assault were taken in as evidence.

An interview with the victim was conducted at Virginia’s House in Graham later the same day by a forensic interviewer.

During the interview, the victim stated the sexual assault began on or around April 4, 2022 and the last time Wakefield sexually assaulted the victim was the day before, on the afternoon of June 9, 2022. Wakefield sexually assaulted the victim 20-25 times in three months, according to the interview referenced in the affidavit.