A former reserve Columbus police officer was sentenced to 20 years in the state prison this morning at the Lowndes County Courthouse after pleading guilty to statutory rape last week.
Richard Carr, 46, admitted he had sex with his girlfriend”s 15-year-old daughter when the girl was 13 and 14 and her mother was at work.
Sixteenth Circuit Court Judge Jim Kitchens could have given Carr up to life in prison, but decided to give the near-minimum sentence.
Besides serving his time without eligibility of parole, Carr must pay court costs, endure five years of post-release supervision, register as a sex offender and cannot be alone with anyone under age 16.
Carr”s family members declined to comment on the guilty plea or the sentence.
Carr, a 14-year reserve officer, was arrested in Oktibbeha County in 2009 after the victim confessed to her mother that she and Carr had sex “various times,” according to the indictment.
The encounters happened at his girlfriend”s Columbus house while he was baby-sitting the girl and her siblings, the indictment said.
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