Two men found guilty this year of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy in Brookhaven in 2018 each received life sentences, officials announced Tuesday.
Kelvin Armstrong, 43, was found guilty by a DeKalb County jury last week of two counts of aggravated child molestation, child molestation and reckless conduct, District Attorney Sherry Boston’s office said in a news release. He was immediately sentenced to two life sentences plus 29 years in prison, the DA’s office said.
Armstrong’s co-defendant, 51-year-old Kevin Walker, pleaded guilty to similar charges in March, according to the DA. Walker entered a guilty plea on three counts of aggravated child molestation and one count each of child molestation and reckless conduct. He also received a life sentence with 40 years to be served in prison, the DA’s office said.
According to Boston’s office, the incident at the center of the two men’s cases took place Jan. 29, 2018. The victim, a 12-year-old boy, was walking home from his bus stop on Buford Highway after missing his bus to school.
Walker saw the boy and lured him into his apartment along the busy DeKalb road, the DA’s office said. Once they were inside, Walker threatened the boy and then sexually assaulted him. After the attack, Walker called Armstrong, who went to the apartment and also sexually assaulted the boy, the DA said.
Afterward, the two men gave the boy $5 and threatened to harm him if he told anyone what happened, the DA’s office said. Both men left the scene, but Walker was arrested the same day and named Armstrong as the second suspect. He was arrested three days later.
According to the DA’s office, both men gave taped confessions to DeKalb investigators.
At the time of Walker’s arrest, police said he was HIV-positive, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Walker’s HIV-positive status led to the reckless conduct charges against both him and Armstrong.
Walker and Armstrong were denied bond in 2018 and have remained in the DeKalb County Jail since their arrests, online jail records show.
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