BY KEITH EPPS
A Stafford County jury yesterday recommended that a man who raped his 12-year-old daughter serve nearly 22 years in prison.
The 41-year-old man, who is not being named to protect the identity of his daughter, was convicted yesterday of eight charges, including rape, aggravated sexual battery, indecent liberties and incest.
The jury recommended a total of 21 years and 10 months in prison and found the man not guilty on eight other charges. Judge Charles Sharp will formally sentence him on Jan. 22.
According to the evidence, the girl, now 14, lived with her father in central Stafford from August 2007 until June of last year.
The girl moved back to Georgia with her mother, who is divorced from the father. By the time the mother learned that the girl was pregnant, she was nearly five months along.
The girl later told police that her father regularly molested her when she lived there. She said he had to be the father of her child because she hadn't had sex with anyone else.
But a DNA test on the aborted fetus showed that a stepuncle had fathered the baby. The girl testified this week that she didn't tell police about him because she loved him.
Defense attorney Vanessa Jordan argued that the jury should not believe the child because she lied to the police.
But the father's own statement to Detective Chris Cameron bolstered the prosecution's case.
The man testified that the only time he had relations with the child was one night when he was passed out drunk on a couch.
He said he woke up to find someone in a white nightgown on top of him.
He claimed he didn't realize it was his daughter until he saw her wearing a white nightgown the next morning.
Prosecutor Andrea McCauley scoffed at what Cameron referred to as the "sex ninja story."
She said he concocted the story prior to the DNA test because he feared he had fathered the child's baby.
"He has watched one too many B-rated porn films," McCauley said.
The defendant testified that he didn't know why his daughter had lied about him. The girl shook her head no as her father expressed his love for her from the witness stand.
Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
Email: kepps@freelancestar.com