PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 60 years for sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl for seven months.
The Sun Herald of Biloxi reports 41-year-old Jerome Mack Austin, of Gautier, was sentenced Wednesday after being extradited from Oregon for the almost eight-year-old crimes. District Attorney Tony Lawrence says prosecutors argued the abuse happened from Nov. 1, 2010 to May 31, 2011.
Judge Kathy King Jackson sentenced Austin to two consecutive 30-year sentences for two counts of sexual battery. Lawrence says he hopes the 60-year prison term sends the message “to leave children alone.”
The newspaper reports there’s no parole offered on sexual battery convictions and that Austin also is required mandatory lifetime registration as a sex offender.
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Information from: The Sun Herald, http://www.sunherald.com