PORT ORCHARD, Wash. (AP) - Jurors have found a Washington man guilty of 15 of 22 crimes he was charged with, including five counts of child rape.
The Kitsap Sun reports (https://goo.gl/eW8Goa ) 45-year-old Melford Warren Jr. was also found guilty Thursday of aggravators related to those charges, which means Warren could receive a life sentence.
Warren was tried in absentia after multiple courtroom outbursts.
Prosecutors say Warren terrorized, isolated and assaulted his family, which includes two women and their dozen children.
He also faced assault charges for alleged attacks on the women, but the jury didn’t reach consensus on those counts. Jurors also hung on two counts of assault on the children and acquitted on three counts of assault and criminal mistreatment on them.
Defense attorney Adrian Pimentel questioned some of the children’s credibility.
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Information from: Kitsap Sun, https://www.kitsapsun.com/
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