LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) - A Leavenworth woman has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for at least 25 years for raping a 16-month-old girl.
Forty-one-year-old Mahogany Jaelene Payne was sentenced Friday.
Leavenworth County prosecutor Toff Thompson says a crime occurred when Payne was babysitting the girl and a 5-year-old girl in January 2016.
Payne was convicted in October of one count of rape. She was acquitted of a second rape charge.
The Leavenworth Times reports Payne was given a life sentence under Jessica’s Law, which calls for harsh sentences for people convicted of sex crimes involving children.
Payne’s attorney, Curtis Holmes, had sought a sentence of probation. But Assistant County Attorney Katie Devlin argued against that, noting that Payne was convicted of child abuse in 1999 in Sedgwick County.
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Information from: Leavenworth (Kan.) Times, http://www.leavenworthtimes.com
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