Plea agreements have been accepted in two cases involving the abuse of children in Cochise County, ensuring that three victims will not have to testify at trial.
Gregory John Hess was slated to stand trial beginning Wednesday on charges that he abused two children he knew during the summer of 2019. In an unrelated case, Melissa Michele Blampied’s jury trial was set to begin next week for two counts of engaging in sexual intercourse with the 15-year-old son of a friend.
The requests for plea deals came from the defense attorneys for Blampied and Hess, according to Deputy County Attorney Michael Powell, the prosecutor in the cases.
Powell told Arizona Daily Independent that entering into a plea agreement so close to trial is generally disfavored, but “it is always better to shield the victims from testifying if they so desire,” when those victims are minors.
“The victims in both cases were prepared to go to trial, but understandably desired to avoid testifying,” Powell said, adding that a prosecutor’s duty is to seek justice, not simply convictions and harsh sentences. “The victims were able to receive justice through last minute plea agreements which the county attorney’s office made sure reflected their desires.”
Hess, 38, was indicted by a county grand jury in 2020. He appeared in a Cocihse County Superior Court one day before his trail to plead guilty to one count of sexual abuse involving one victim and no-contest to a count of child abuse for the other victim.
A defendant entering a no-contest plea does not admit guilt to a specific offense but agrees to accept a conviction and sentence for that offense.
Sentencing of Hess will take place March 24, at which time the judge has the choice of placing him on probation for as long as Hess’s lifetime, or sending Hess to prison for up to five years followed by probation. Either way Hess must register as a sex offender under terms of the plea deal.
Blampied, 48, was arrested in 2019 after her friend became concerned about the relationship between her son and Blampied. She pleaded no-contest last week to a Class 4 felony of furnishing harmful items to a minor by having “recklessly furnished, presented, provided, or made available to minors an item that is harmful to minors, TO WIT: her vagina,” the plea deal states.
The plea agreement stipulates that the offense in Blampied case involved a sexual motivation. It also stipulates Blampied will be placed on probation for up to four years.
The trial judge will decide March 28 on the length of probation and whether Blampied must registered as a sex offender.
