COFFEE COUNTY, Ala. — An Alabama jury has convicted a man accused of posing as a teenager online to pursue a 15-year-old girl.
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According to the 12th Circuit District Attorney’s Office, Garrett Whitfield was found guilty Monday in Coffee County on charges of traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act, second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy.
Prosecutors said the case began in early 2024 when Enterprise police received a report involving Whitfield and a juvenile victim.
Evidence presented at trial showed the victim was 15 years old in the summer of 2023 when she began communicating on social media with someone she believed was a 17-year-old boy named “Tyler Patterson.”
According to prosecutors, “Tyler Patterson” initiated contact with the girl and arranged to meet her in person. Authorities said the two met multiple times, during which the man bought the victim lingerie and other gifts.
Prosecutors said the pair also engaged in sexual intercourse and oral sex on multiple occasions.
The deception unraveled after the victim left the Enterprise area and received a food order purchased through a delivery app, according to the district attorney’s office.
The receipt identified the purchaser as Garrett Whitfield, a name the victim did not recognize.
Prosecutors said the victim searched the name and discovered that the person she believed was 17-year-old Tyler Patterson was actually Whitfield, a 28-year-old man from Andalusia.
After a trial that lasted about a day and a half, a jury convicted Whitfield on all three charges.
Judge Henry “Sonny” Reagan ordered Whitfield into the custody of the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office pending sentencing, which is scheduled for Nov. 19.
Assistant District Attorney Kylie Crespo credited the victim for helping secure the conviction.
“We were able to prosecute this case because she had the courage to face Mr. Whitfield in court and tell the truth about what he did to her,” Crespo said in a statement.
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