Appeal Denied in Rape of 14-Year-Old

TYLER — A Henderson County man’s appeal has been denied last night by he Twelfth Court of Appeals in Tyler. According to KETK, Jeffrey Ross Seery was sentenced to 60 years in prison on three counts of sexual assault in January 2011 for raping a then 14-year-old girl. After the sentencing, Seery appealed his convictions, claiming that some testimony should not have been heard by the jury and that some of his evidence, which was kept from the jury, should not have been.

Seery was arrested September 27, 2009, by deputies who were dispatched to reports of a 14-year-old girl who had been assaulted at a house on Highway 31 near Athens. He was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant and booked into the Henderson County Jail. Authorities also found two hand grenades and marijuana at the home. Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents in Tyler traveled to the location and retrieved the grenades. Officers charged Seery with sexual assault while he was still in custody on an escape charge.

During the trial, the victim emotionally detailed her relationship with Seery and described how he groomed her from a young age to engage in sexual acts with him. Other witnesses testified Seery claimed to be a high ranking special-forces paratrooper who suffered from PTSD. At one time, the convict was thrown a going away party after claiming he was being deployed to Afghanistan. Military records show he was never in combat and was discharged as a private for various infractions, according to court documents. Prosecutors also claimed Seery fooled people into believing his military stories and used them to separate his victim from her mother. Seery can still petition the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to review the decision.