A 40-year-old illegal immigrant was sentenced to four life terms for the rape and sodomy of two children in Bay Minette, Alabama last week.
Michael Rodriguez Garcia received four life sentences to run concurrently for the rape and sodomy of the two children, according to court documents. Garcia also received an additional ten years for enticing a child for purposes of performing sexual acts.
Baldwin County District Attorney ChaLea Tisdale remarked on the difficult details of the case.
“I am incredibly proud of the victims in this case,” Tisdale said. “It is always traumatic for a victim of child sexual abuse to talk about what was done to them, and they were able to do so with honor and dignity.”
“Justice was indeed served, and I’m grateful to the jury for their thoughtful deliberations and to Judge Jody Bishop for sentencing the defendant to life in prison,” Tisdale added.
For his part District Attorney Hallie Dixon said that the sentence was the right thing to do in order to protect future victims.
“While many people immigrate to our great country for noble reasons, when a person comes here illegally and then commits crimes, especially when they victimize children, they should have to stay here – in our prisons for the rest of their lives, so that we know they won’t be victimizing some other child under some other identity ever again,” Dixon said.
Judge Jody Bishop gave Garcia the maximum sentence allowed by law for the crimes.
Bay Minette is a town just north of Mobile, Alabama.
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