Girl Endured Years Of Rape In Cobb Apartment: DA

MARIETTA, GA -- Justice has come for a little girl who endured years of sexual abuse in Cobb County. Two Marietta men have been sentenced in the attacks, the most recent one last week, Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds announced.

Mario Esteban Sanchez, 58, who was related to the girl by marriage at the time, was convicted of two counts of child molestation. He faced a jury last week for the attacks on the girl, which began in his apartment when she was just 4 years old.

Thursday's conviction follows the sentencing of Marcio Rogelio Cartagena, 33, of Marietta. He pleaded guilty to rape and aggravated child molestation against the same child in January, the DA said. Cartagena was a friend of the girl’s family and used that relationship to get access to the girl. He began attacking her when she was 5 years old. Cartagena was handed a life sentence, with 18 years behind bars.

The years of abuse were revealed when the child, who is now 12, told a cousin a few years later.

“This brave little girl carried the burden of this abuse silently for years. Hopefully, this verdict will release some of that burden and she can begin to heal,” Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Chuck Boring said in a statement. “As for the Defendant, the jury’s verdict will assure that this predator will never harm another child.”

Sentencing for Sanchez, who was represented by Marietta attorney Michael Edmunds, is set for May 26. Sanchez faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years behind bars.

Image via Patch file photo