District Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison For Sexual Abuse of 7-Year-Old Girl

            WASHINGTON - A 37-year-old man from Washington, D.C. was sentenced today to 12 years in prison for sexually abusing a seven-year-old child, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips.

            The man, who is not identified here to protect the privacy of the victim, pled guilty in September 2016, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to one count of attempted first-degree child sexual abuse with aggravating circumstances and one count of second-degree child sexual abuse with aggravating circumstances. He was sentenced by the Honorable José M. Lopez. Following his prison term, the man will be placed on five years of supervised release. He also must register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.

            According to the government’s evidence, the defendant moved into his girlfriend’s home in Southeast Washington around December 2015, and sexually abused her daughter on multiple occasions until he was discovered by a family member on Aug. 14, 2016.  When interviewed by Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detectives, the defendant admitted to the abuse.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of the detectives of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Youth and Family Services Division.  He also commended those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocate Veronica Vaughan, Paralegal Specialist Angelina Slagle, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Julianne Johnston, who prosecuted the case.