An Atlanta man was sentenced to two life sentences behind bars after he was convicted of raping a young girl.
Westlee Jae Smith, 28, was found guilty of three counts of aggravated child molestation and a single count each of rape and child molestation. The child was the daughter of Smith’s girlfriend, according to Cobb County prosecutors.
The girl, now 10, testified in court that she was molested in an Austell Road apartment between 2017 and 2018. Several other adults and children were staying there at the time, prosecutors said.
She told a relative, her teacher and a school counselor, who notified Cobb County police. Smith, who is also known as Wesley Leon Smith, has been in custody since his May 2018 arrest.
During trial, the jury also heard from a teenager who said Smith molested her in 2007 when she was 4 years old. He is still facing charges in that case in Fulton County, according to Cobb prosecutors.
“This defendant has a long-lasting history of victimizing children, and the impact of his actions will be felt for the rest of these children’s lives,” Assistant District Attorney Katie Gropper said Friday during Smith’s sentencing hearing. “He has demonstrated that he is a danger to children, and to the community. He cannot be trusted in our society.”
Gropper prosecuted the case along with fellow senior prosecutor Meredith Florio. They recommended the consecutive life sentences for Smith, and Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs agreed.
“The evidence I heard in this case, including the testimony of Mr. Smith, makes me very sad,” Childs said before sentencing. “Society has a lot of work to do, in a lot of different areas.”
If he is ever released from prison, Smith will be subject to sex offender conditions, according to prosecutors.
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