BEAUMONT, Texas — A Southeast Texas man was given a life sentence Friday for sexually abusing a child.
Lonnie Davis, 53, was found guilty Thursday afternoon by a Jefferson County jury of continuous sexual abuse of a child in Criminal District Court.
The sentencing phase of his trial began Friday morning and just after noon the jury sentenced him in to life in prison.
Davis faced a minimum of 25 years in prison or up to life and will not be eligible for parole. He will have to register as a sex offender.
The trial began this week with jury selection on Monday before testimony began on Tuesday.
On the opening day of the trial prosecutor Sonny Eckhart began by reading the indictment in court charging Davis with the child sex crime.
Once the indictment was read in court, Judge Stevens then asked Davis how he pleaded.
“Not guilty,” said Davis, clearly enunciating each word.
Eckhart began his opening statements telling the jury the young victim is older today than when the alleged abuse took place. He told them that the law changed during the time period when the abuse took place. Because of this, he is only being prosecuted for the time after the law changed.
He spoke of incidents that led to Davis having contact with the victim and about ongoing abuse that followed.
Defense Attorney Tom Kelley began by telling the jury that Davis is not guilty and that they will see this once they hear the evidence.
He told them that there is stigma of being accused of this kind of crime. He said some people would rather be charged with murder than this crime.
Kelley asked the jury to keep in the back of their mind if everything looks, sounds or feels right.
“Does that make sense. Does the government and what witnesses say make sense?,” said Kelley.
