A Florida man was sentenced to life behind bars for molesting his girlfriend’s 10-year-old daughter and then pouring bleach on her to destroy the evidence.
Judge Kimberly Fernandez handed down a life sentence to Lewis Matthews, 43, for sexual battery on a victim younger than 12 on Monday. She also added five years for evidence tampering and an additional 25 years each for two charges of lewd or lascivious molestation of a victim younger than 12.
Earlier this month, Matthews was found guilty of four felonies after a three-day trial, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
“It’s heartbreaking to sit in court and watch a victim, who has been sexually abused by someone who is supposed to be caring for her, testify on the stand,” said Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren in a statement. “That’s why I’m so proud of the work that our prosecutors do to hold these offenders accountable, stand up for the victims, and send these predators away for life.”
The girl told investigators and testified in court that she fell asleep on the living room floor on April 13, 2019. Around 3:30 a.m., Matthews woke the girl up and began molesting her. The victim’s mother heard a noise and came downstairs, where she was “stunned by what she discovered,” prosecutors said.
The victim’s mother called 911, and while she was still on the phone, Matthews took the girl and two other children who were in the home to a gas station. He took the child inside, grabbed a bottle of bleach, and brought her into a bathroom, where he poured bleach all over her after demanding she strip off her clothes.
Authorities were able to recover DNA from the girl’s body, clothing, and her bleach-stained underwear matching Matthews.
No one spoke at the sentencing, not for the victim or on Matthew’s behalf. None of this seemed to phase Matthews. He shook his lawyer’s hand and laughed as he was led out of the courtroom.
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