A Vicksburg man will spend more than 20 years in prison after being convicted of molesting a third-grader.
Kenny Cordell Stewart, 30, was sentenced by Circuit Judge M. James Chaney to 22 years in prison for sexual battery of a child younger than 14 and molestation.
Stewart faced up to life in prison, but the victim, who was 8 at the time of the molestation, her mother and Stewart’s family all asked for a light sentence.
“In this case, we’ve got a young man who by all accounts has no criminal record and has been a good citizen,” Chaney said. “But a trust was violated, not only to the community and family members but to the mother and this child.”
Under state law, Stewart must seve his sentence day-for-day and will have to register as a sex offender.
Stewart, who was represented by Aafram Sellers of Jackson, had been baby-sitting the girl while her mother was at work, according to court records.
The mother came home early to change clothes and found Stewart molesting the girl, Assistant District Attorney Angela Carpenter said. Since the molestation, Carpenter said, the girl has been the subject of bullying and has suffered from hair loss and weight gain. She is currently enrolled in counseling.
“She has indeed suffered greatly because of the sexual assault perpetrated by this defendant,” Carpenter said.
When the girl’s mother entered the bedroom where Stewart was in bed with the girl, he fled the home in the 100 block of Elizabeth Circle. He was captured three days later while hiding in a closet at 420 Countryside Drive off Mississippi 27 after police received a Crime Stoppers tip.
Jamie Williams, whose home Stewart was hiding in, has been convicted of obstruction of justice and sentenced to three years’ probation.
Williams did not know what crime Stewart was wanted for when he agreed to help him, Assistant District Attorney Bert Carraway said.