CANTON, Ga. — A metro Atlanta man was sentenced to life in prison last week after he was found guilty of sexually abusing two girls related to him.
The 37-year-old was found guilty by a Cherokee County trial jury last month. According to District Attorney Shannon Wallace, the jury convicted him on all charges, which included rape, incest, child molestation, sexual battery and battery family violence.
The district said the man was first arrested after the girls contacted 911 following abuse in 2019.
The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office first received a 911 call text from a child at the home on Aug. 13, 2019, which said the man had "physically and sexually abused her." When law enforcement arrived, she denied sending the text, but it emerged in the trial that "she did not disclose to law enforcement because she wanted to protect her older brother who was present when law enforcement arrived."
Two weeks later a 911 call came from the home, this time from a different girl living there. The teenager said the man had tried to climb in bed with her and that when she told him to get out, "he punched her in the face and ran into the woods, where he was later arrested by deputies."
Investigators found that the man had been "physically and sexually abusing two girls who are related to him."
"The defendant threatened further violence if they did not yield to his will," a release from the district attorney's office said.
Cherokee County prosecutor Leyna Pope, who handled the case, said the children "were terrified of this defendant."
"They knew what was happening to them, both the physical and sexual abuse, was wrong, but felt powerless to stop it. As our expert in the field of child abuse testified, sometimes it is too difficult for children to say out loud what is happening to them," Pope said. “The ability of the Cherokee County 911 system to receive text messages is a real life line for our children in distress and, in this case, provided a means for one child to finally reach out for help.”
The DA's office said both girls testified at the trial, and the jury reached its verdict after about an hour of deliberation.
DA Wallace said the man "manipulated these children to ensure they kept silent and threatened further violence if they told anyone what was going on in their home. I am in awe of their bravery for finally reaching out to law enforcement to report the abuse."
"With this verdict and sentencing, these young victims will no longer have to live in fear of this man," Wallace said.
