A man on the Coast will spend four decades in prison.
34-year-old James Allen Stevens, of Ocean Springs, pled guilty to ten counts of Touching of a Child for Lustful Purposes and ten counts of Exploitation of a Child.
The crime occurred in September 2017, and officials stated that Stevens was a family acquaintance of the victims. The Gautier Police Department investigated the case, and Stevens also pled guilty previously to similar charges in Harrison County.
Stevens was sentenced to serve 40 years in prison on the Exploitation charges, and he’ll be ordered to pay a $10,000 fine per count. On the ten counts of Touching of a Child for Lustful Purposes, Stevens was sentenced to fifteen years on post-release supervision and a $500 fine per count.
District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath stated, “The defendant preyed on these young children as they slept and captured his abuse of them on video. The depravity of his acts and the danger he presents to the children in our community justifies this forty-year day for day sentence. I’m going to do everything I can within the bounds of the law to keep our kids safe and get justice for the abused.”
Assistant District Attorney Justin Lovorn stated, “I commend the efforts of the Gautier Police Department, who worked in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies to fully investigate this case. Through their efforts, we were able to resolve this case without the victims having to suffer the additional trauma of a trial.”
Stevens will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.
