Former Prince George's County Officer Gets 18 Years for Child Sexual Abuse

Charles County Circuit Court Judge H. James West told Tristan Thigpen on April 2 that "the level of harm in this case is excessive and goes beyond the victim" and that "the verdict should have meaning, and the sentence should reflect that." Then he sentenced the 40-year-old suspended Prince George's County Police Department officer to 18 years in prison for the sexual abuse of a minor.

The sentence followed a January 16 conviction by a Charles County jury after a five-day trial. Charles County State's Attorney Tony Covington announced the sentence. At the sentencing hearing, Assistant State's Attorney Ed Stickles told Judge West that Thigpen had shown no accountability and that the "vicious and heinous nature" of the conduct warranted a term above Maryland's sentencing guidelines. West agreed.

The investigation that brought Thigpen to a Charles County courtroom began with a disclosure the victim made to a family member in December 2020. That conversation triggered a police report, and PGPD detectives opened an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse in Prince George's County. In February 2021, those detectives submitted a Child Protective Services intake report to Charles County, where investigators learned the child had also been abused while the family lived in Waldorf between 2015 and 2016. Thigpen had served as a caregiver to the child. Prosecutors said he escalated physical contact gradually, beginning with shoulder massages and what he called "play-fighting," before progressing to touching the child's genitals when alone with the victim.

The conviction carries institutional weight for PGPD beyond the courtroom. Thigpen had already been suspended from the department following a DUI arrest in Nevada before the sexual abuse allegations surfaced, meaning the department had an officer on suspension for one infraction while a separate, years-long pattern of child abuse had yet to be uncovered. PGPD has not announced any internal policy changes in response to the conviction or the broader questions the case raises about officer vetting and monitoring during suspension.

The prosecution required sustained coordination between PGPD detectives, the Charles County Sheriff's Office, and the State's Attorney's office in La Plata, where Covington's team took the case to verdict and sentencing while PGPD's initial CPS referral set the investigation in motion.

Prince George's County residents who need to report child abuse can call the county's Child Protective Services hotline at 1-800-917-7383, available 24 hours a day. Complaints about PGPD officer misconduct can be directed to the department's Internal Affairs Division at 301-352-1200. Sexual assault survivors seeking statewide support and local referrals can access resources through the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault at mcasa.org.

Judge West's words at sentencing, directed at Thigpen, set a standard the court held him to: "In this world, you should leave children better off after being with you, and that didn't happen here." The 18-year sentence is his accounting for that failure.