Man Gets Life Sentence For Raping Girl, Giving Her STD (Photos)
David Bonner
A Louisiana man has been sentenced to life in prison for raping his ex-girlfriend's 7-year-old daughter.
Andrew Hunter Jr., 26, was found guilty on Aug. 11 of raping the young girl in New Orleans in October 2014, reports the Daily Mail.
The victim was reportedly abducted from her bed on the night of Oct. 17, 2014, and then sexually assaulted her while she was blindfolded, bound, and gagged.
She described her attacker as having shoulder-length dreadlocks, which fit Hunter's description at the time.
A jury found Hunter guilty of all five counts against him, convicting him of charges including second-degree kidnapping and aggravated burglary.
Hunter also allegedly gave his victim a sexually transmitted disease. She tested positive for Chlamydia about three weeks after her rape, according to police.
Chlamydia is the most frequently reported sexually transmitted bacterial infection in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2015, over 1.5 million cases of the STD were reported to the CDC, though it is estimated that the actual number of annual infections is double that.
Those between the ages of 15 and 24 account for almost two-thirds of the all new cases of Chlamydia, and it is estimated that 1 in 20 sexually active women aged 14-24 has the disease.
In the case involving Hunter, the victim's mother told police she had also Chlamydia after having consensual sex with him.
Hunter's attorney, Martin Regan, denied that his client ever had the disease.
In another widely-reported rape case involving a sexually transmitted disease, John William Lieba II was sentenced on July 26 to 42 years in prison for raping a 4-year-old girl on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana, the Daily Mail reported at the time.
As a result of the sexual assault, Dr. Cynthia Burrows of the Billings Clinic testified that the girl was infected with an incurable STD.
"The child will forever be reminded of this trauma," Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Weldon wrote in a sentencing memo to U.S. District Judge Brian Morris. "The United States without hesitation recommends life in prison. Lieba, through his actions, forced every parent in Montana to confront their worst nightmare."
Tribal officials blamed the crime on the rising use of methamphetamine on the Fort Peck reservation, where both Lieba and his victim were residents.
As for Hunter, he is expected to receive a mandatory life prison sentence on Sept. 15.
Sources: Daily Mail (2), Centers For Disease Control and Prevention / Featured Image: Pixabay / Embedded Images: New Orleans Police Department via Daily Mail
sexually transmitted diseaseChlamydiaAndrew HunterRape