A judge sentenced a Harnett County man, facing several allegations of sex crimes against children, to spend 60 days in jail after pleading guilty to reduced charges.
It follows a plea, from 60 down to 15 charges, struck Tuesday between defense attorneys and prosecutors from the North Carolina Attorney General's Office. A judge delivered multiple sentences that were suspended over a five-year supervised probation period.
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Steven Alan Vest, 43, of Lillington, was scheduled to face a jury trial this week. He was also arrested in late 2025 on charges of sex offenses with children. At the time, he was indicted on more than 50 sex crimes, and court documents show the incidents happened between 2008 and 2019.
"This sentence is completely unacceptable. This judge gave this sex offender, who has a previous conviction for crimes against children, a slap on the wrist," said Nazneen Ahmed, spokesperson for the North Carolina Attorney General's Office.
Vest was set to go to trial Monday, charged with taking indecent liberties with a child. Superior Court Judge Winston Gilchrist heard arguments from Vest’s defense attorneys that they had negotiated a potential plea deal with state prosecutors in the days leading up to trial. The details of the plea, they say, include dropping the number of charges from 60 down to 15. They also say that an active sentence time of 120 days in jail was part of the plea deal offered by the state.
Prosecutors challenged this, saying that while the charge count would be reduced from 60 to 15, ultimately, no formal offer had been given by the state. They told Judge Gilchrist that the two sides were in the midst of plea deal negotiations leading up to trial. However, they say no formal offer was reached, and the length of time served for Vest was to be left to the discretion of the court.
Judge Gilchrist told a courtroom, with family members present, that multiple sentences would be suspended over the duration of Vest's 60-month supervised probation window. While 120 days had been the number discussed in the courtroom regarding how much time Vest would spend in jail, Judge Gilchrist ruled on 60 days spent in Harnett County jail.
"After the defendant pleaded guilty in open court, our office pushed for a maximum 23.5-year sentence. Instead, the judge issued a sentence of 60 days despite strong opposition from our office. We owe our children better. Over our objections, justice was not served today," Ahmed added.
The families of the victims, who say both victims were young children at the time of the alleged crimes, say they were in disbelief by what they called a sudden change in expectations.
They told WRAL they felt 60 days was a sentence too light, given the nature of Vest’s crimes.
“This is four and a half years listening to the county tell us, ‘Trust the process. Let the legal system work. Let justice be served,'" a woman said, who is related to both victims in the case.
Vest was first registered as a sex offender in August 2004 after being convicted of indecent liberties with a 14-year-old, according to the NC State Bureau of Investigation's Sex Offender Registry.
Vest is currently married to an employee of the Harnett County courthouse, WRAL confirmed with Harnett County District Attorney Suzanne Matthews. Citing that conflict, the case was moved to control of the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office.
As part of the plea deal, Vest is not allowed contact with the two victims in the case, who both spoke and gave victim impact statements Tuesday.