A former Georgetown County deputy said he will start rebuilding his life now that he has been found “not guilty” of sexually assaulting a 13 year old female relative in 2007.

It took a jury less than two hours Wednesday to clear Ron Christopher Crabtree, 36, of the accusations that cost him his job at the County Sheriff’s Office when he was arrested last year.

The teen claimed Crabtree touched her inappropriately inside the Pawleys Island home she was living in at the time.

She told the jury the incidents continued for months and increased in intensity until Crabtree raped her.

Now that a jury has found Crabtree not guilty, he said he is going to ask Sheriff Lane Cribb to reinstate him to the force.

“I will take [my job] back in a minute but that is their discretion,” he said as he was leaving the courthouse.

He said he wanted to thank his “friends, family and co-workers” who supported him since his troubles began.

The outcome of the case hinged on who the jury believed more, Crabtree or the teenager.

That’s because there was no physical evidence to be collected once the allegations were made by the girl.

There were also no eyewitnesses to call to the stand.

During her closing argument, Assistant Solicitor Nancy Livesay addressed both issues.

“There is never any physical evidence when a man touches a child inappropriately,” she said.

She also said criminals do not commit crimes in front of anyone, especially sex crimes.

Crabtree’s attorney, Reuben Goude noted the time gap between the time the alleged acts took place and the time the teen told anyone.

It was also said during the trial when DSS talked to the girl she denied being assaulted by Crabtree but later told a SLED agent she had been touched.

Dr. Melissa Muse, a licensed counselor who deals with sex abuse cases, testified on behalf of the state.

She said it’s “very common” for there to be a delay between the time a child is assaulted and the time they tell anyone.

She also said in most cases children retract their stories after the crime is reported because they want to protect their family or do not want to go to court.

The doctor also said a 'perpetrator' sometimes "grooms" a child by doing things such as pretending to be asleep and "accidentally" touching the child.

That is one thing the teen said happened to her when the alleged acts began.

During cross examination by Goude, the doctor said she has never counseled anyone involved in this case.

The defense also brought up some mental issues the teenager had in the years prior to the alleged incidents.

While on the stand Crabtree said required

counseling in 2005 because she was hearing voices and was "seeing bad things." He said she had been "making up stories, got caught in lies" and was stealing from her school.

The teen testified at one time a voice told her she should kill her mother.

 Goude said the jury did what the judge told them to do which was to take note of what the witnesses had to say who said his client  is a trustworthy person.

Read more in Friday’s Georgetown Times