District Man Convicted of Sexually Abusing Two Young Girls
- One Victim Was a Relative, Other Was in a Day Care Program -

     WASHINGTON - A 42-year-old man was convicted by a jury today of sexually abusing two young girls in the District of Columbia, including one who was a relative, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.

     The defendant, of Washington, D.C., is not identified here to protect the privacy of his victims. He was found guilty in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia of three counts of first degree child sexual abuse with aggravating circumstances and three counts of second degree child sexual abuse with aggravating circumstances. The Honorable William M. Jackson scheduled sentencing for March 30, 2012. The defendant faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release.

     According to the government’s evidence, the defendant repeatedly sexually abused the relative over a period of one and a half years, starting in September 2002, when the victim was nine years old. The victim came forward in 2009, after learning that the defendant had sexually assaulted another girl - this one, four years old, while he was at his girlfriend’s in-home daycare. Most of the crimes took place in Northeast Washington.

     The defendant has been in custody since his arrest in September 2009.

     In announcing the jury’s verdict, U.S. Attorney Machen expressed his appreciation to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), especially Detectives Stephanie Garner and Jeffrey Folts. He also commended the work of Legal Assistants Tanisha Nelson and Charmonique Price, Paralegal Specialists Kristy Penny and Donhue Griffith, Victim Advocate Veronica Vaughan, and the Litigation Support Unit, including Tracy Van Atta. He acknowledged the outstanding work of the Children’s Advocacy Center, which provided critical services and treatment to the child victim. U.S. Attorney Machen especially praised Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen Shinskie and Kimberly Nielsen, who indicted the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsay Suttenberg and Lauren Dickie, who prosecuted the case.

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