NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — 45-year-old Jacob Anthony Gehris was sentenced in a Norfolk court Friday after previously pleading guilty to raping a child under the age of 13.
The crimes occurred between July 2023 and July 2024 at Gehris's West Ocean View apartment.
The victim's family would visit Gehris to spend the weekends with him, during which the abuse took place.
Norfolk man pleads guilty to raping child under 13
Based on the evidence presented by the victim's mother, the Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney's Office secured indictments from a grand jury against Gehris for rape of a child under the age of 13, sodomy of a child under 13, aggravated sexual battery of a child under 13 and taking indecent liberties with a child under 15.
Gehris entered an agreement on April 8, 2026 to plead guilty to rape and register as a sex offender.
In exchange for his guilty plea, the Commonwealth agreed to withdraw the remaining charges.
Friday, Gehris was sentenced to 51 years and 8 months in prison for the rape charge, though 40 years of the sentence is suspended.
He will also have ten years of unsupervised probation.
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