Lewis Matthews He sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl and was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. The Hillsborough County, Florida jury found him guilty of abusing and sexually abusing his girlfriend’s ten-year-old daughter, and later pouring bleach on their genitals to try to destroy evidence of the crime. On Monday, June 28, he was sentenced to life imprisonment by Circuit Court Judge Kimberly Fernández.
At his sentencing, attorney Bryant Camareno told the judge that the abuser’s mother did not plan to appear at her son’s sentencing hearing. “She doesn’t want to come”Camareno explained.
Matthews, 43, was convicted of four felonies: one count of sexual assault on a victim under the age of 12 years, two counts of lewd abuse of a victim under the age of 12; Y one charge of tampering with evidence physical, after a three-day trial.
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The facts
In April 2019, Matthews, who was allegedly at his girlfriend’s home in Tampa, began sexually assaulting his partner’s youngest daughter. Prosecutors said Matthews was like a stepfather to the girl and had a relationship with his mother for years. At around 3:30 a.m. on April 13, 2019, Matthews abused the girl while she was sleeping.
The assailant then drove to a commercial store where, according to court documents, he bought a bottle of bleach and took the victim to a public bathroom where he told him to remove his clothes. Lewis then he poured bleach on the minor’s genitals in an attempt to remove the DNA from her body. Finally, he threw the victim’s underwear into a garbage container.
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Matthews’s attempt to destroy the DNA evidence, however, failed. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Investigators were able to locate Matthews’ biological samples in bleach-stained underwear, as well as on the victim’s body and other clothing.
The baby also reportedly told investigators that she was sleeping when he approached and abused her. “Parents who sexually abuse children in their custody, make our blood boil”Said State Attorney Andrew Warren. “That is why we are aggressively prosecuting cases like these. These people deserve to spend the rest of their lives in prison“.
“It’s heartbreaking to sit in court and watch a victim testify on the stand, when she has been sexually abused by someone who is supposed to take care of herWarren said. “That is why I am so proud of the work our prosecutors do to hold these criminals accountable, defend the victims, and send these predators out for life.”
Matthews received a life sentence on the assault charge, 25 years for each of the sexual abuse charges and five years for tampering with physical evidence. All sentences will be served at the same time. But he didn’t seem to flinch.
According to press information, it was learned that at the end of the judicial hearing the man he shook his lawyer’s hand and chuckled.
