Prosecutors and a DeKalb County judge said Monday former policeman Quevius Thornton destroyed the trust of many, especially the two 15-year-old girls he had enticed into sexual encounters.
Thornton, 30, cried as he pleaded guilty to five felony counts of statutory rape and four counts each of enticing a child for indecent purposes and child molestation.
One of the teens and the mother of the other girl, who were in the courtroom, also wept. The girl became so upset, she had to leave as Thornton began an apology.
Judge Cynthia Becker sentenced him to 15 years in prison and 10 years probation.
“I’m appalled,” Becker said. “You’ve ruined these victims’ lives ... [And] you owe the DeKalb County Police Department a massive debt."
Defense attorney Nate Dobson said Thornton pleaded guilty "because he knows it has to be done. It would ease the pain and suffering for his victims. It would ease the pain and suffering for his family.”
Thornton, who is married and the father of two young children, also pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges.
District Attorney Robert James said Thornton developed sexual relationships with the two girls last year but he seemed to be a mentor to one of them.
But he was really "a predator. He groomed these children,” James said.
The story broke on Jan. 2 and Thornton was arrested three days later.
Assistant prosecutor Anna Davis said Thornton would have sexual encounters with the two girls at his house and in cars parked at Dunaire Elementary School, Panola Way Elementary School and Shoal Creek Park.
“They trusted him because he was a police officer and he abused that trust for his own personal needs,” Davis said.
He destroyed them, Davis said, and they are trying to heal.
Nancy Chandler, CEO of the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy, said the girls can recover with therapy.
"That's a very usual thing that a perpetrator would know the family. People talk so much about 'stranger danger' but really the danger is from the adults in a child’s life," Chandler said
Thornton tried to convince the judge that he was "a good person who made a bad mistake. I have thrown away all my hard work and dreams. I have cried and cried ... about what I’ve done to myself and my victims. I take full responsibility.”
But James said he suspects Thornton has other victims who remain silent, saying, “Child molesters don’t just wake up one morning and start molesting children.
“This man is a bad person. Good people don’t exploit children.”
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