A man was convicted on four counts of raping a little girl two years to the day that the abuse was reported to police.

 

“I just can’t say enough about the bravery of this young girl,” Bedford County District Attorney said.  “She still kept fighting on and said, ‘I gotta tell somebody who will believe me.’ It was really rewarding for us to tell her that the jury believed her.”

 

After a day of testimony, the verdict came down, and 37-year-old Warren Young of Everett was found guilty.

 

“When you have people like this that are willing to do this to a child, there’s really only one way to keep them from doing it to a child, and that is to put them behind bars,” Higgins said.

 

Young came into this girl’s life when she was just three years old.  The girl said she told her mother multiple times, but nothing was done. 

 

“She failed this child,” Higgins said. “This mother failed her daughter, and there’s no question about it.”

 

“For many of those victims when they disclose to the parent, sadly the first reaction is denial that this has happened,” said Your Safe Haven’s Executive Director Jeannee Mallow.

 

At 11 years old, the girl went to her teacher and then the school nurse. 

 

They told Children and Youth Services, then police.  Two years later, justice was served. 

 

“You have a child here that is loved by supposedly both parents, but you are also being told that somebody isn’t trustworthy here,” Mallow said.

 

Higgins said each count of rape carries at least 40 years behind bars.  He’s pushing for 80 minimum and a max of 160 years. 

 

“Now this monster will never see the light of day again as far as I’m concerned,” Higgins said.  “We’re gonna recommend a sentence that keeps him behind bars for the rest of his life.”

 

For the mother to face criminal charges, Higgins said they would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt she knew exactly, in detail, what was going on.  Higgins said when the mother was on the stand, she admitted her daughter told her once, but she did not know details.  He said it would be incredibly difficult to bring charges against her.