Columbus man, 64, sentenced to life for sexual abuse of girl from age 5 to 12
A 64-year-old Columbus man has been sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison after he was convicted of sexually abusing a girl for seven years, starting when she was 5 years old.
Muscogee Superior Court Judge Gil McBride sentenced Mark Dewayne Conley on Tuesday afternoon, after a jury July 16 convicted Conley on a range of charges including aggravated sodomy and child molestation.
The abuse began in 2011 and continued until the girl was 12 years old, authorities said. She reported it last year, and Conley was arrested in November, according to jail records.
After hearing days of testimony in the case, the jury convicted Conley on most of the counts he faced.
Here are the charges from his indictment, with approximate dates of the offenses.
The jury found Conley guilty on these counts:
- Aggravated sodomy, on or about Dec. 1, 2011.
- Child molestation, on or about June 1, 2011.
- Aggravated child molestation, on or about Dec. 1, 2011.
- Aggravated child molestation, on or about Nov. 1, 2019.
- Aggravated child molestation, on or about Jan. 1, 2017.
- Sodomy, on or about Jan. 1, 2017.
- Aggravated sexual battery, on or about Jan. 1, 2018.
- Enticing a child for indecent purposes, on or about June 1, 2011.
The jury found Conley not guilty on an additional count of aggravated sodomy, allegedly occurring around Jan. 1, 2019; and not guilty on one count of child molestation, which was alleged to have happened around Nov. 9, 2020.
The prosecutor was Assistant District Attorney LaJimmie King, who declined to comment after Tuesday’s sentencing.
The defense attorney was Jennifer Curry, who after the sentencing said Conley has numerous health issues, and likely will not survive long in prison. He is a former staff sergeant retired from the Army, she said.