Maryland Man Sentenced To 20-Year Prison Term For Sexual Abuse Of RelativeAbuse Began When Girl Was 10 Or 11 Years Old

     WASHINGTON – A 32-year-old man from Temple Hills, Md., has been sentenced to a 20-year prison term for sexually abusing a teenage relative in the District of Columbia, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced today.

     The defendant, who is not identified here to protect the privacy of the victim, pled guilty in April 2014, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to two counts of first-degree child sexual abuse. The Honorable Lynn Leibovitz sentenced him on Aug. 11, 2014. Upon completion of his prison term, the defendant will be placed on supervised release for the rest of his life; he also must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

     According to the government’s evidence, the defendant subjected the girl to chronic child sex abuse from 2010 to 2013, starting when she was only 10 or 11 years old. The guilty plea involves two attacks in 2012 and 2013, in the living room of her family’s residence in the District of Columbia. The girl, who often was left in the care of the defendant, became pregnant as a result of the abuse. DNA tests revealed that the defendant is the child’s biological father.

     In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Youth Division. He also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Tiffany Jones; Victim/Witness Advocates Tracy Owusu and Tracey Hawkins, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenya K. Davis, who prosecuted the matter.