MARIETTA, Ga. - A man who pleaded guilty to child molestation as his trial was about to begin was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a Cobb County Superior Court judge.
David Peter Eidens, 59, was a friend of the child's family and had served as a babysitter and home school teacher for the 12-year-old boy believed to be the victim.
The child's father discovered the abuse when he came home early from work and found his son in his undergarments with Eidens. The child told his father he had been touched inappropriately.
"This plea ensured that this victim did not have to relive the abuse on the stand, and also that no other child will suffer at the hands of this lifelong predator," said assistant Cobb District Attorney Drew Healey, who prosecuted the case.
Superior Court Judge Robert Leonard II sentenced Eidens to the maximum sentence under state law, 19 years to serve in prison and one year on probation. He will also be subject to sex offender conditions upon his release.
Cobb police also say they have learned Eidens had been convicted in 1984 in Florida of inappropriately touching an 11-year-old boy.
