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Hilliard Fields

Other CIU Exonerations in Child Sex Abuse Cases
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In February, 1997, 25-year-old Hilliard Fields was charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in Dallas County, Texas.
 
The charges arose because Fields was a friend of the girl’s mother and the girl had a crush on him. She became jealous when Fields came to the house with a girlfriend and wrote him a letter.
 
The girl’s mother found the letter and told authorities that the letter suggested that Fields and the girl were in a sexual relationship.
 
Though the letter was never produced to authorities and the girl maintained that nothing inappropriate ever happened between them, Fields was charged with sexually assaulting a minor.
 
At the time, he was facing an unrelated drug charge. On August 27, 1997, Fields pled guilty to both offenses in return for two concurrent sentences of five years in prison.
 
Fields served his time and was released in April 2002, but had to register as a sex offender.
 
In 2011, the mother admitted that she had concocted the story about the letter.
 
On June 27, 2011, the conviction was vacated and the charges were dismissed by Craig Watkins, Dallas County District Attorney.
 
Fields was awarded $459,583 in state compensation plus a monthly annuity of $2,200.
 
– Maurice Possley

Report an error or add more information about this case.

Posting Date:  Before June 2012
State:Texas
County:Dallas
Most Serious Crime:Child Sex Abuse
Additional Convictions:
Reported Crime Date:1997
Convicted:1997
Exonerated:2011
Sentence:5 years
Race/Ethnicity:Black
Sex:Male
Age at the date of reported crime:25
Contributing Factors:Perjury or False Accusation
Did DNA evidence contribute to the exoneration?:No