Defendant Sexually Abused Teenager After Threatening to Beat Her
WASHINGTON - A 43-year-old man, formerly of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to seven years in prison on a charge of assault with intent to commit first-degree sexual abuse of his 13-year-old stepdaughter, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.
The man, who is not identified here to protect the privacy of the victim, pled guilty in March 2016, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The plea, which was contingent upon the Court’s approval, called for a seven-year prison sentence. The Honorable Michael Ryan accepted the plea today and sentenced the man accordingly. Following completion of his prison term, the man will be placed on three years of supervised release. He also will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
According to the government’s evidence, sometime between May and October of 2015, the victim and her younger sibling would spend weekends at the defendant’s home in Northwest Washington. On one occasion during that time-frame, the defendant told the victim to remove all of her clothes. At that time, he had a belt in his hand and threatened to beat the girl if she did not comply. Out of fear, she complied, whereupon the man sexually assaulted her. The man was arrested on Feb. 6, 2016, after the abuse came to light, and has been in custody ever since.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips praised the work of detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Youth Investigations Division, which investigated the case; and of personnel from Safe Shores, who forensically interviewed the victim and her younger sibling. He acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist D’Yvonne Key; Child Forensic Interview Specialist Karen Giannakoulias, and Victim/Witness Advocate Tracey Hawkins. Finally, he commended Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Brooks and Peter V. Taylor, who investigated and prosecuted this case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
