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A Nederland man has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a child.

A jury found Lonnie Carlston Davis, 53, guilty of the charge Thursday in Judge John Stevens’ criminal district court. The sentencing was announced Friday at approximately noon.

The case was prosecuted primarily by Sonny Eckhart.

Eckhart was unavailable on Friday, and assistant district attorney Koby Hoffpauir handled the sentencing phase.

The defense attorney is Tom Kelley.

Davis was facing a sentence of 25 to 99 years or life for the felony crime, Judge John Stevens said.

Due to the nature of the crime the defendant is not eligible for parole or probation.

Kelley addressed the jury Friday morning, saying the legislature placed the parameters on the punishment range factoring in vengeance.

He asked the jury to consider Davis’s current age of 52, saying if he is sentenced to the minimum of 25 years he will be 78 when released, which is older than the average life span of a male.

Hoffpauir also noted the sentencing range but argued child sex offenders and child predators do not stop their crimes and cannot be rehabilitated.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Davis sexually abused a male child between the years 2005 and 2014 at various locations, including Nederland.

Davis is described as a friend of the family at the time of the incidents.