Cache man pleads no contest to child sex abuse

A Cache man avoided trial Monday by pleading no contest to allegations he committed six years of ongoing and escalating abuse of a young girl.

With jury selection readying to begin, Jason Aaron Dunivan, 46, entered his blind no contest plea before Comanche County District Judge Grant Sheperd to three counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child under 16, first-degree rape of a victim under 14, rape by instrumentation and forcible sodomy, records indicate.

With a no contest plea, Dunivan doesn’t admit to the crime but acquiesces to the probability of being convicted. A no contest plea has the same immediate effects as a guilty plea, but may have different residual effects or consequences in future actions.

Sheperd ordered a pre-sentence investigation. Dunivan returns to court for formal sentencing at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 9, 2024.

A blind plea is defined as a plea with no restriction other than between the statutory minimum and maximum sentence.

The girl told investigators that beginning in November 2015, when she was 7 and he was 38 years old, up until the end of February 2021, Dunivan molested her, according to the warrant affidavit.

“The sexual assault went on for several years,” the affidavit states.

Dunivan has been held on $200,000 bond since his initial appearance in August 2022. He remains held on no bond until formal sentencing.