A 14-year reserve Columbus police officer pleaded guilty Monday evening in Lowndes County Circuit Court to statutorily raping his girlfriend”s underage daughter multiple times.
“It”s something I did,” said 46-year-old Richard Carr, who had sex with the 15-year-old girl when she was 13 and 14.
Carr had sex with the victim “various times” at her house in Columbus while he was baby-sitting her and her siblings, according to the indictment.
The defendant was arrested in Oktibbeha County in 2009 after the victim confessed to her mother, who had been at work when the incidents occurred.
The Dispatch does not identify victims of sexual assault.
Sixteenth Circuit Judge Jim Kitchens postponed sentencing until Aug. 31, saying he needed a week to think about proper punishment for the “pretty reprehensible” crime.
“I don”t know what I want to do,” he told the courtroom Monday. “I need to think about it.”
The defendant could receive anywhere from 20 years to life in prison for the first count of statutory rape and up to 30 years for the second, according to 16th District Attorney Forrest Allgood”s office. Since this is Carr”s first offense, the judge can suspend any sentence.
Carr, who was taken into custody after the court recessed, will be kept in a separate cell in the Lowndes County jail, per Kitchens” orders.
Carr is represented by Columbus attorney Steven Wallace.
Prosecuting attorney Lindsay Clemons said the victim”s relatives had been at the courthouse earlier in the week, but could not stay for the trial.
“(The victim”s grandfather) feels these incidents have ruined her life,” she told Kitchens.
Clemons argued for a stiffer punishment, adding that Carr “should be held to a higher standard” because of his status as an auxiliary police officer.
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