Tupelo Man Sentenced for Sexual Battery

LEE COUNTY, Miss. — A Tupelo man is going to prison after pleading guilty to sexual battery of a vulnerable person, announced Attorney General Jim Hood today.

Larry Joe Hester, 61, of Tupelo, appeared in Lee County Circuit Court before Judge Paul S. Funderburk today and pleaded guilty to one count sexual battery of a vulnerable person. As a result, Judge Funderburk sentenced Hester to six years and six months in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Judge Funderburk also ordered Hester to pay a $1,000 fine and court costs.

Hester admitted to sexual battery of a bed-bound victim who was a resident of an assisted living facility.

Prosecution and investigation of the case was handled by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.