On Monday September 21st, Defendant Garrett Whitfield appeared in the Enterprise Division of Coffee County for a trial on three charges- Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act, Rape 2nd Degree, and Sodomy 2nd Degree. The State was represented by Assistant District Attorney Kylie Crespo. The trial was presided over by Circuit Judge Henry “Sonny” Reagan.
Testimony and evidence presented showed that in early 2024, the Enterprise Police Department received a report regarding Defendant Whitfield and a female juvenile victim. The allegations reported were that the female juvenile victim was 15 years old in the summer of 2023, and she began communicating on a social media platform with a boy she believed to be 17 years old named Tyler Patterson. “Tyler Patterson” initiated the social media contact and sought out the female juvenile victim. The boy lived outside Coffee County, and the two made arrangements to meet in person. “Tyler Patterson” came to Enterprise on multiple occasions and bought the female juvenile victim lingerie and other gifts. The female juvenile victim and the boy she believed to be 17 years old had sexual intercourse and oral sex on multiple occasions.
Later, the female juvenile victim was out of the Enterprise area and “Tyler Patterson” ordered food through a food delivery app for the victim. The receipt on the food delivery named the purchaser as the Defendant Garrett Whitfield. The female juvenile victim did not know a Garrett Whitfield and began searching the name. The female juvenile victim was able to determine that “17-year-old Tyler Patterson” was in fact 28-year-old Garrett Whitfield of Andalusia.
After a day and a half long trial, a jury convicted Defendant Whitfield on all three charges and Judge Reagan remanded him to the custody of the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office pending a sentencing hearing that is scheduled for November 19th.
Assistant District Attorney Kylie Crespo stated, “I am so grateful to our victim and her family. We were able to prosecute this case because she had the courage to face Mr. Whitfield in court and tell the truth about what he did to her. I am also thankful to Sgt. Amber Darbro of the Enterprise Police Department for the hard work she put in investigating this case. Because of our victim and Sgt. Darbro, this predator is facing a prison sentence and will no longer be able to victimize any young girls.”
District Attorney James Tarbox said, “Assistant DA Crespo did an outstanding job prosecuting this case. I am thankful that she was able to work with our victim and prosecute this predator. The allegations made in this case were absolutely disgusting and our office is glad that a jury of Defendant Whitfield’s peers agreed and convicted him on all three charges as presented. We are thankful that Defendant Whitfield will be going to prison and will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.”
The District Attorney’s Office thanks the Enterprise Police Department and case agent Sgt. Amber Darbro for their work investigating this case. In addition the DA’s Office thanks the State Bureau of Investigation, Andalusia Police Department, Covington County Sheriff’s Office, Opp Police Department, and the Opp Fire Department for their assistance in executing a search warrant related to this matter.
