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April 27, 2005

Life sentence awaits 2-time sex offender

The Bassett man faces a life sentence under a provision of a law called the Protect Act.

A former Henry County resident will spend the rest of his life in prison for sexually exploiting his three stepsons because he was already a convicted sex offender.

The man, who lived in Bassett, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to six counts of sexual exploitation of children and three counts of transporting images of pornography across state lines as a convicted sex offender. He created more than 1,370 images of the abuse, not including six videotapes police also found.

The Roanoke Times is not identifying the man to protect the identity of the three boys. The boys are now ages 15, 14 and 9, but the abuse dates back to at least 2002, according to federal authorities.

The Bassett resident pleaded guilty to all nine charges against him in the indictment and indicated to Senior U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser that he knew his decision carried a mandatory minimum sentence of life.

He faces a life sentence under a federal law passed in 2003 called the Protect Act. The "two strikes" provision of the law requires a life sentence for offenders who commit two serious sexual abuse offenses against children, according to the Department of Justice.

In 1997, the defendant, who lived in Massachusetts at the time, was convicted of indecent assault and battery of children younger than 14. Special Agent Katherine Kelley of the Federal Bureau of Investigation testified Tuesday that the defendant was convicted of that felony offense for sexually abusing two nephews and a niece, ages 5, 6 and 8.

U.S. Attorney John Brownlee said after the hearing that he had not heard of another case in which a defendant had pleaded guilty under the provision of the law.

"The only way to deal with this type of criminal is to send them away for life," Brownlee said after the hearing. He spoke of recent incidents in Florida in which convicted sex offenders who were released from custody are now suspected in the slayings of young girls.

"When this case came into my office, I decided early on we would invoke every mandatory minimum to make sure he stays in jail for the rest of his life, and that's what we did today," Brownlee added.

The case began in December 2003, when the defendant's wife - the mother of the young boys - discovered videotapes depicting the abuse, Kelley said.

The Henry County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant at their Bassett home and found four videotapes, magazines featuring child pornography, and the hard drive of a computer featuring about 1,370 pictures of the boys either naked or engaged in sexually explicit conduct, Kelley testified.

Prosecutor Craig Jacobsen showed about 150 of the man's images in the courtroom as part of the evidence in the case. They showed the defendant performing oral and anal sex on his stepsons or having them perform sexual acts on him. The defendant shot many of the images in the bedroom he shared with his wife, or in the television room, Kelley said. Those images were also shown in court.

The family lived in Massachusetts when the defendant shot some of the images, Kelley said. The defendant shot some of the other images in Bassett, Kelley testified.

The couple had met in Massachusetts and married in October 2002, Kelley testified. They also had a daughter together, who now is about 3, Kelley said.

There was no plea agreement in the case. Kiser asked the defendant about letters he had sent his wife, in which he claimed that the government had fabricated the evidence against him. But the defendant, who was represented by Danville attorney Mark Williams, said he was no longer making that claim. No sentencing date was set.

Posted by Nealus at April 27, 2005 02:48 PM

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