An Austell man convicted of child molestation was sentenced to 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office said Monday.
As his jury trial was beginning Monday morning, Ivan Cruz, 39, pleaded guilty to 12 charges, including three counts of aggravated child molestation, five counts of child molestation, two counts of solicitation of sodomy of a child under age 18, and one count each of aggravated sexual battery and sexual exploitation of children, DA Vic Reynolds’ office said.
Cruz admitted he repeatedly assaulted the girl in his residence off of Six Flags Drive beginning when she was 11 years old, the DA’s office said in an emailed statement.
“This guilty plea spares the victim from having to testify publicly, and it ensures the defendant will spend the majority of the remainder of his life confined to a prison cell, unable to ever again abuse a child,” assistant DA Dave Williamson said. “If the defendant is ever released, he will be an old man and hopefully deported from the United States.”
Superior Court Judge Robert D. Leonard II sentenced Cruz to 25 years to be spent in prison without the possibility of parole. If he is ever released from prison, Cruz will be on felony sex offender probation for the rest of his life, the DA’s office said.
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