MORGANTOWN — A man who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old relative was sentenced to prison on Tuesday.
Caleb D. Wiley, 34, of Morgantown, was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison for sexual assault by a parent, guardian, or person of trust, and 1-5 years for sexual assault in the third degree by Judge Susan Tucker. She ordered those two sentences run concurrently with each other. Tucker also ordered 40 years extended supervision on Wiley’s release.
Tucker denied a request by Wiley’s attorney to run the sentences concurrent with the 13-year sentence he is currently serving. Wiley was convicted of first-degree robbery and other offenses and sentenced to serve 45 years in total, Prosecutor Perri DeChristopher said.
Wiley was released on parole in 2019 and the new charges happened within a year, DeChristopher said. His parole was revoked as a result of the sexual assault charges. In her argument opposing the sexual assault sentences run at the same time as the parole revocation time, DeChristopher pointed out it’s not a foregone conclusion he will serve all of that time — he will still have parole hearings.
Often, in sexual assault cases, prosecutors say the victim has been sentenced to a life sentence, but in this case, DeChristopher said she thinks the victim has found a way to move on.
The victim and her mother spoke at the sentencing hearing. The Dominion Post is not identifying either to protect the minor victim.
“My daughter is the strongest person I know. She’s my hero and he didn’t break her,” the victim’s mother said.
The mother said she thought there had to be some misunderstanding — she trusted Wiley, a relative, implicitly — as she was driving back to Morgantown from Keyser, after getting a call at 2 a.m. telling her what happened. Until she walked into the hospital room, where the victim said she was alone and scared for 2.5 hours until her mom got there.
“There was no misunderstanding the devastation in her face,” the mother said.
While the assault didn’t break the victim, her journey has not been easy.
Immediately after being raped June 9, 2020, she told Wiley’s daughter, who was in a back bedroom, who called 911, the victim said. She said she was scared, traumatized and angry.
The victim described spending two weeks after the assault in bed, unable to do anything except sleep and barely eat.
She said the incident split her family apart. Other members of the family took Wiley’s side and harassed the victim — even calling the police on her. On March 10, she tried to commit suicide and spent 10 days in Chestnut Ridge, the victim said. While there she was diagnosed with anxiety, depression and PTSD.
She said she isn’t scared anymore, knowing that Wiley was being sentenced and couldn’t get out and hurt her. She said she feels better now that she is in therapy.
Tucker said she denied the request for Wiley’s new sentences to run concurrent with the time he’s currently serving because of the nature of what happened and what was explained in court.
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