GALVESTON, Texas – A Galveston man who skipped out on trial before learning his fate for child sexual abuse was found dead on Tuesday.
Richard Jay Duplessis’ body was found in a friend of a family member’s home. A neighbor reported a smell and when someone went to check things out, they discovered Duplessis had hung himself.
The discovery brings an end to a manhunt for the convicted criminal, who authorities called a “predator.”
Duplessis was on trial, accused of continuously sexually abusing a child relative. He showed up to court on the first two days of his trial but wasn’t there for the third and final day. A judge issued a warrant for his arrest, triggering an urgent manhunt.
Despite his absence, after less than 10 minutes of deliberating, a Galveston County jury sentenced Duplessis to life in prison.
“Not only was he found guilty, the jury determined that he needed the maximum punishment in prison,” Galveston County Chief Assistant District Attorney Raneca Henson said.
The Crime
Last August, a child victim made an outcry that a family member, Duplessis, had been sexually assaulting her since she was 6 years old.
“She outcried that he had started sexually abusing her from around the age of six or seven until she was eight,” Henson said.
Galveston police arrested Duplessis in September and he was indicted for continuous sexual abuse of a child. The indictment alleged the abuse began in May 2021 and ended in February 2022. The range of punishment for the offense was 25 years to life in prison.
He posted a $250,000 bond in November 2022.
His trial began on July 18. The jury also heard testimony from two other victims who were previously sexually abused by Duplessis when they were children.
According to records, Duplessis was accused of sexual assault of a child in Galveston County in 2016 but got convicted of a lesser charge of endangering a child.
Then in 2017, he was accused of the same crime again in Harris County, but court records show that case got dismissed. It’s unclear why.
During closing arguments, Henson argued that the defendant took advantage of the victim’s trust and innocence, the DA’s office said in a press release. The state also presented text messages that showed the nature of inappropriate communication the defendant had with the child.
During the punishment phase, Henson argued, “The defendant has shown he is a predator, and he preys on young girls that can’t protect themselves.”
The defense argued that the defendant needed rehabilitation. Henson said the defendant needed prison, not rehabilitation.
The U.S. Marshal’s Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Fugitive Task Force began following up on every lead in an active search for Duplessis.