A man convicted of the attempted rape of a 12-year-old disabled girl was sentenced to 39 years in prison Friday, Aug. 12.
Although a Richmond County Superior Court jury convicted Quint Evans, 37, of numerous crimes back in May, he wasn’t sentenced until Friday to give his family the opportunity to be in court.
Through a letter read by his attorney Friday, Evans asked the judge to consider what happened not a sex crime but more of an accident or unintentional physical act.
The victim, who is autistic, burst out in tears back in May when Evans walked into the courtroom, Assistant District Attorney Stetson Cromer said Friday.
Evans, who had been an acquaintance of the victim’s mother, was left alone with a house of sleeping children Aug. 18, 2018. The mother and a friend testified that when they returned, they found her bedroom door locked. Once they got the door open, they found the victim naked and crying in the bed next to Evans who pretended to be sleeping, wearing just his boxer shorts, Cromer said.
The mother’s friend and Evans got into a physical confrontation, and Evans fled the home without his clothes or personal items such as his keys and wallet.
The victim said she was asleep when Evans grabbed her by the throat and dragged her into a bathroom where he stripped off her clothes and punched her in the mouth when she resisted, Cromer said. He got her into the bed just before her mother returned.
It wasn’t the first time for Evans, according to a young woman who testified during his trial. In 2012 when she was 12 years old, she said she was sleeping one night but awoke to find Evans on top of her, raping her.
Evans denied that happened when he testified before the jury. The police had been called and nothing came of it, Evans said.
The prosecutor said there was evidence of two prior sexual assaults by Evans. He was able to call one of the victims as a witness.
In sentencing Evans Friday, Judge Ashley Wright said she agreed that the victim’s mother had brought into her home numerous people who could interact with her special needs child, a child who couldn’t defend herself.
Wright sentenced Evans to a total of 39 years in prison followed by one year on probation. Georgia law requires some period of probation in sex crimes.
Evans was convicted of criminal attempt to commit rape, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and three counts of child molestation.
