When she went to work in the evenings, the woman left her 7-year-old granddaughter in the care of her boyfriend — a man who founded a small church and considered himself a man of God.
Between 2012 and 2013, when he lived with the child in Powder Springs, Cobb prosecutors said the man molested the girl and threatened to “have her taken out of the home and away from her grandmother by DFCS if she ever told on him.”
This week, 48-year-old Jerry Wayne Spencer admitted he preyed upon the girl and pled guilty to two counts of child molestation, the Office of Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds said Wednesday in a statement.
He will spend the next 20 years in prison.
“This defendant preyed upon his 7-year-old victim in her own home and when the child was left in his care,” Cobb Assistant District Attorney Susan Treadaway said in the statement. “Charged with the responsibility of protecting her, the defendant instead violated this little girl physically and tortured her emotionally, placing her in fear should she report the abuse to an adult. It was only after the defendant moved out of the home that the victim found the courage to come forward.”
Cobb Superior Court Judge Robert E. Flournoy sentenced Spencer to 30 years, with 20 years to serve in prison and the rest on probation.
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