Convicted child molester denied appeal

A man who molested a 7-year-old girl failed to have his conviction overturned according to a recent decision by the N.C. Court of Appeals.

A 17-page court document released this week by the higher court rejected disputes submitted by Dallas Jay Worley's attorneys.

Worley, 22, was convicted of two counts of statutory sex offense with a child by an adult, and one count of first-degree kidnapping in Cleveland County on March 23, 2018.

Worley repeatedly performed sex acts on a relative and threatened to kill the child if she told anyone what he'd done.

After several sexual assaults, including one in which relatives slept in the next room, the little girl told her mother about the abuse. Doctors examined the child and later testified at Worley's trial about potential signs of molestation.

During the trial, the girl, by then 9, testified for more than two hours.

Jurors found her testimony, and that of specialists, credible and deemed Worley guilty.

He was sentenced to 25 to 35 years in prison. Upon release, he will be subject to satellite-based monitoring for life.

In Worley's appeal, he said the court erred by ordering him to submit to lifetime satellite-based monitoring upon his release from prison that it committed plain error by permitting two expert witnesses to vouch for the child's credibility.

"Upon review, we hold that defendant received a fair trial, free from prejudicial error," the N.C. Court of Appeals decision said.

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