A Texarkana man was sentenced to 60 years in prison after being found guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl.
Tyree Maurice Goins, 33, must serve 70 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole, the Texarkana Gazette reported.
The girl, now 16, testified that Goins sexually assaulted her after giving her a ride to the store in 2015 and then again on at least six other occasions that year.
On Feb. 28, the jury heard jailhouse recordings of Goins speaking to the victim's aunt, during which he encouraged her to tell her sister not to attend court.
"Tell her I apologize for everything going on and she doesn't have to come to court," Goins said on the recording.
The jury also heard testimony from the victim's mother that Goins offered to give her money and had claimed he thought the victim was 17.
"How much money do you think it would take for a mother to put her child through this for two years," Mitchell said in closing arguments. "[The victim] was 13 when he raped her. She's been carrying this around for nearly three years since this started. She identified her rapist, and now she's asking you to convict him."
Goins, who has two previous convictions for felony drug offenses, is also accused of indecency with a child by contact in Bowie County, Texas.
State Desk on 03/07/2018