TYLER, Texas — A Tyler man received 10 years of probation last week after he pleaded guilty to trying to sexually assault a woman near a Tyler elementary school in 2017.
Desi Griffith, 22, accepted a plea agreement Friday to receive 10 years of deferred adjudication in connection with an attempted sexual assault charge.
This agreement comes after 114th District Court Judge Austin Reeve Jackson rejected a previous plea deal in December that would have given Griffith four years of deferred adjudication.
Deferred adjudication is a form of probation allowing a person to keep the conviction off their criminal record. After a guilty plea, a judge can decide not to enter a finding of guilt, but place the person on deferred adjudication instead.
Griffith will also have to register as a sex offender based on the plea.
While investigating a bike theft in July 2017, police got a call from a woman saying a man tried to sexually assault her near Andy Woods Elementary School. The description she gave of the suspect matched Griffith, according to police.
The victim said she was walking in the neighborhood when Griffith grabbed her from behind and tried to pull her into a secluded area near the school. She fought back and got away to call 911, police said.
Griffith, who was 17 at the time, was found at his residence. He was then arrested and released two days later.
He was in the Smith County Jail since Sept. 5, 2019, on a $200,000 bond after the Smith County Adult Probation Office arrested him.
