Wotipka Gets Five Life Sentences

A Fayette County Jury sentenced Jackie Glenn Wotipka to five life sentences last week.

Wotipka, 53 of La Grange, stood accused of three counts of first degree felony sexual assault of a child and two counts of second degree felony indecency with a child by contact. Jury selection took place Monday, June 9. The trial began on Tuesday and arguments wrapped up on Wednesday.

La Grange Police Investigator Troy Stevens was the first witness for the prosecution. He testified that the victim, who went by the pseudonym “Nancy Drew” throughout the trial, reported the crime in the fall of 2024.

After an investigation, the defendant was arrested for sexual assault of a child in January 2024.

Nancy Drew took the stand and testified that Jackie Wotipka was a friend of the family, and she considered him her uncle. She stated that when she was 13, the defendant kissed her and used his tongue. She said Wotipka continued inserting himself in her life, and the abuse progressed in a sexual nature. She described five different acts that were sexual in nature.

The next witness was another victim who went by the pseudonym “Jill Stone.” She testified that Wotipka was her stepfather and began inappropriately touching her when she was eight years old. The conduct progressively got worse until she moved out of the family home in Weimar, Stone said.

Stone testified that the molestation occurred in Colorado County. Wotipka faces separate charges in Colorado County for those acts.

The next witness was former County Attorney John Wied, who identified the witness and testified that he prosecuted Jackie Wotipka for sexual assaulting another stepdaughter back in 1998. Wotipka spent 10 years in prison, followed by 10 years probation.

La Grange Police Investigator Kenny Schmidt was the final witness for the State. Officer Schmidt discussed his investigation of the defendant in 1997, which led to his first conviction under John Wied. Following his testimony, a brief video of that 1997 confession was shown to the jury. The State then rested their case in chief.

Wotipka testified in his own defense on Wednesday. He claimed that the sexual acts took place after Drew turned 17. The jury, composed of nine women and three men, heard a recorded telephone conversation between Wotipka and the victim. That conversation appeared to be a key piece of evidence, because the jury asked to hear it again during their deliberations.

In the recording, Wotipka stated that Drew’s accusations were so troubling that they might give him a heart attack. In closing arguments on Tuesday, County Attorney James Herbrich hammered on that point.

“Why was he going to have a heart attack? He was having sex with a child.” Herbrich said.

Defense attorney Charles Thompson argued that the prosecution did not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The alleged acts in this trial took place while Wotipka was on probation for the 1998 conviction. Thompson said that the Fayette County Adult Probation Department conducted nine polygraph tests on Wotipka during his time on probation. All nine times, Thompson said, the polygraph tester asked Wotipka if he had sexual contact with anyone underage. Wotipka passed every test, Thompson said.

“It doesn’t add up,” Thompson said. “Either the Fayette County Adult Probation System is messed up, or you have to believe the Fayette County Adult Probation System.”

Either way, Thompson argued, the jury should acquit because those facts provide reasonable doubt.

Furthermore, Thompson argued in his closing remarks that the victims in both cases made up their stories to protect themselves. He alleged that Nancy Drew was in a relationship with another man while she carried on an affair with Wotipka. Thompson said she made up the accusations to protect that relationship. Thompson further alleged that Jill Stone made up her story to protect herself from family repercussions.

Thompson told the jury that they may not like the sexual activities described in the trial, but they were not illegal.

Due to his previous conviction, Wotipka faced an automatic life sentence if he was convicted.

Closing arguments wrapped up around noon on Wednesday. District Judge Jeff Steinhauser read some instructions to the jury, and they began deliberations around 12:45 p.m. They returned their verdict just before 4 p.m. – guilty on all five counts.

Wotipka’s legal team asked Judge Steinhauser to poll the jury. One by one, Steinhauser asked each juror for their verdict on the charges. All 12 answered “Guilty.”

Sentencing began Thursday morning. The Texas Penal Code stipulates an automatic life sentence for some sex crimes if the defendant is found to have been previously convicted of certain violent sexual acts. The prosecution argued that this law applied in the case, and the court agreed. Accordingly, the prosecution only had to prove that Wotipka was previously convicted for molesting his stepdaughter. The 1998 case was tried in Fayette County, and the jury heard from the officer who investigated it and the prosecutor who secured the conviction.

Sentencing deliberations took less than an hour. When the jury returned, Steinhauser read their sentence – life in prison on all five counts. Again, the defense attorneys asked the judge to poll the jury. Each one of them confirmed the life sentence.

Steinhauser then released the jurors from their instructions and dismissed them. Next, the Jill Stone and Nancy Drew took the stand again to read their victim impact statements. Stone went first.

“For years I lived in fear and watched as you manipulated everyone,” Stone said. “You presented yourself as a saint. You filled my young head with lies, telling me no one would believe me. You made me feel that my body was not my own.”

Following Wotipka’s conviction, Stone said she could now “dress myself and not be sexualized.”

She concluded by saying, “You are a monster.”

Nancy Drew began by describing how her family knew Wotipka and gave him a “second chance” after he got out of prison for the 1998 conviction. Still, she said, her parents were careful to not leave her unsupervised around Wotipka.

“You swore to my parents you would never do such a thing again,” she said. “You had everyone fooled.”

Drew said Wotipka began grooming her on her 13th birthday, in December of 2009. While they were alone, Drew said, Wotipka kissed her and told her he loved her. He was 38 years old at the time.

“You told me it would be our secret,” Drew said. “It didn’t stop with one kiss.”

From there, she said, the grooming escalated and became sexual.

“You told me things I didn’t need to know at that age,” she said.

She recounted the disturbing physical acts that she earlier testified about during the trial, sometimes in graphic detail. She described one of those episodes, a paintball game involving herself, Wotipka, and Wotipka’s son. During the game, Wotipka lured her into a barn to “hide.”

“You know what happened in the barn that night,” she said.

She described another episode when Wotipka came to church with her family. Drew said Wotipka sat next to her in the pew and tried rubbing her hand during the service.

“You chose sin, adultery and lust in God’s house,” she said At times she screamed at him: “I freaking hate you.” “You are a demon - screw you.”

“You are dead to me. I will not mourn you.”

The trial now ended, bailiffs took Wotipka into custody while the lawyers and judge signed paperwork. Wotipka’s attorneys filed a notice that he would appeal the case. Officers then escorted Wotipka out of the courthouse and took him away to begin serving his life sentences. He must serve at least 35 years to become eligible for parole under current state law.