Lenoir man found guilty of first-degree sex offense with a child

LENOIR, NC (April 24, 2018)…A Lenoir man was sentenced to spend 20 to 29 years in prison after a Caldwell County jury found him guilty of first-degree sex offense with a child on Monday, April 23, 2018.

George William Sheffield, 54, was given the active prison term by the Honorable Joseph N. Crosswhite, Superior Court Judge from Iredell County, after the jury returned its verdict following about an hour of deliberation Monday in Caldwell County Superior Court.

The defendant will serve his prison term in custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections.

The trial started April 17 and took six days to complete.

Sheffield showed pornographic material to a then-12-year-old autistic boy and sexually assaulted him in various ways in July 2015. Investigators found items that were used in the assault at the scene.

The minor child was taken to Caldwell Memorial Hospital then was transferred to Mission Hospital in Asheville. A rape kit was completed there along with interviews of the boy. Serology and DNA evidence linking the defendant to the crime were obtained from testing.

Jessica Wesson, now with the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, investigated the case for Lenoir Police Department. Assistant District Attorney Nancy Lee handled prosecution for the State.