A Carrollton man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison without parole after pleading guilty to abusing his stepchildren for years while they and their mother lived with him.
Randall Harold Kittle, 51, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated child molestation, according to a news release from Coweta District Attorney John H. Cranford Jr.
Coweta Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Dustin Hightower imposed the sentence Sept. 17.
After his prison term is served, Kittle will be placed on 20 years of probation, during which time he is prohibited from making contact with any person under the age of 18.
Previously, Kittle was convicted of child molestation in 1999 and sentenced to six years in prison and nine years of probation in addition to a requirement to register as a sex offender for life. However, one condition that prohibited his contact with children expired in 2014.
In 2015, police and the Department of Family and Children Services discovered Kittle had been living in a home with children but could take no action at the time because there were no signs or reports of child abuse.
However, in April 2019 the children informed school officials that their stepfather had been sexually abusing them for several years.
They came forward at the prompting of their classmates, one of whom said she had received text messages from Kittle, which made her feel uncomfortable, according to the news release.
Officials with the Carroll County Child Advocacy Center and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, along with investigators from the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, were able to confirm the abuse, and Kittle was taken into custody.
