Man convicted of molesting girl

Jan. 19--A Lenoir man pleaded guilty to inappropriately touching a teenage girl.

Roger Eugene Graham, 54, of Walt Arney Road helped babysit the girl, who was under 16, Assistant District Attorney Nancy Lee said in Caldwell Superior Court.

The girl told her mother in May 2017 that Graham had been molesting her, Lee said. Specifically, the girl reported that Graham would massage her back and touch her thighs, and that at one point he looked at her panties and told the girl he thought she had an infection and squirted her with a cream and a vinegar-water mixture, Lee said.

The girl and her mother were not present in court. Lee said that the mother wanted the girl to be able to move on with her life.

Graham had no prior felony convictions.

He pleaded guilty to taking indecent liberties with a child. Judge Alan Thornburg initially indicated he was going to sentence Graham to two years of probation, but Lee and a probation and parole officer said that two years would not be long enough for Graham to receive the kind of treatment sex offenders must get. Thornburg sentenced him to three years of probation.

Thornburg also ordered that Graham register as a sex offender. He must have no contact of any kind with the girl ever again.

Reporter Kara Fohner can be reached at 828-610-8721.

___

(c)2020 the News-Topic (Lenoir, N.C.)

Visit the News-Topic (Lenoir, N.C.) at http://www.newstopic.net/

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.