Jury recommends life sentence
An Alabama man last week was found guilty of five charges—including first-degree rape—related to the sexual abuse of a 10-year-old girl occurring in 2016.
Jereme F. Riley, 40, was also found guilty on April 23 by a jury of first-degree sodomy, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and intimidating a witness in the legal process.
The incidents occurred from March 1 through July 31, 2016, according to Henderson County Circuit Court files.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Herb McKee, Jr., said after coming from Alabama, Riley was a drug dealer in Henderson at that time. Riley was the drug dealer to the victim’s mother, and according to McKee, he gave her methamphetamine to keep the victim’s mother drugged up or passed out. Riley also manipulated the mother with meth and forced her to work in prostitution, McKee said.
While she was out of the house or passed out, Riley took advantage of the 10-year-old victim, McKee said.
According to court files, the father of the victim was also using methamphetamine. Both parents were unaware of the abuse at the time, McKee said.
There were many reasons for the nine-year lag from the time of the incidents to the trial and subsequent sentencing.
Three years after the incidents, in 2019, the victim disclosed the abuse to a private therapist, and that information was subsequently reported to the Department of Community Based Services, McKee said. The DCBS office created a report that goes out to numerous agencies, he said. There was no follow-up on the report at that time, he said.
In November 2021, the victim again disclosed the abuse, this time to a school counselor, and an investigation was begun, McKee said.
In March 2022, an arrest warrant was signed but it took some time to find Riley because he was back in Alabama. McKee said that Riley was picked up in January 2023.
Additionally, an October 2024 trial ended in a hung jury, McKee said. The trial was rescheduled to April and ended last Wednesday, April 23, with the guilty verdict.
The jury recommended a life sentence, said McKee, who added that Riley didn’t waive Probation and Parole from conducting a presentencing investigation for the court to consider. Circuit Judge Karen Wilson will make a final sentencing on June 16.
McKee said it was unfortunate that there was not a case opened after the first time the victim disclosed the crimes, but he was pleased with the recent outcome.
He commended the victim for speaking out about the abuse she suffered.
“We appreciate the bravery of the young victim coming forward,” McKee said.
Updated version: This update includes a correction that the victim reported the abuse to a private therapist in 2019. In the previous version, the Hendersonian reported the victim reported the abuse to a school counselor in 2019, which is incorrect.
