A man who beat and raped two women and threatened to stab two deputies will undoubtedly spend his natural life in prison.
A judge sentenced Patrick Demetrius Payton, 35, to 160 years in prison — the maximum punishment for a repeat offender — Friday after a week-long trial full of the felon’s repeated outbursts, fights and screams, Cobb County District Attorney spokeswoman Kim Isaza said.
Payton was convicted of two counts each of criminal attempt to commit rape, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, false imprisonment and misdemeanor sexual battery, as well as burglary and robbery, according to a news release. He was given an additional 24 months for the two misdemeanors and is not eligible for parole.
“The only conclusion I can draw is that you are a cowardly predator of defenseless women,” Judge A. Gregory Poole said in court. “There’s something in you that makes you hurt people. I need to make sure you never walk the streets of this state again.”
Payton, who has been in custody since his May 2015 arrest, beat and raped the two women, one of them 17.
In the Jan. 24, 2015 rape, authorities said he repeatedly punched the 17-year-old inside a laundry room of the apartment complex before pulling down her pants and sexually assaulting her.
Payton attacked a second victim May 8, 2015, in the same way and also stole her cellphone, Isaza said.
“That woman was able to identify her assailant as a man she had previously seen in the neighborhood,” Isaza said.
Both victims were taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital and treated for their injuries.
“There is no sentence you can impose that can take away the trauma these women suffered,” Assistant District Attorney Courtney Veal said in court.
Payton’s courtroom antics — officials said he refused to come into the courtroom and attacked deputies — and criminal history likely played a part in his lengthy sentence. Deputies testified that Payton spit on one of them and threatened to stab them when they escorted him through the courthouse, Isaza said.
Payton has been in and out of prison since 2001 on multiple charges, including false imprisonment, obstruction of an officer, robbery, burglary and drugs in Fulton and Cobb counties, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.
“He believes he can get around any consequences for his actions,” Veal said just before sentencing. “Every time he is given another chance, he is more emboldened and his behavior escalates. He cannot be trusted to exist in free society.”
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