A former after-school child care worker will spend at least the next eight years in prison for sexually assaulting two boys in the program.
One of the victims, who are now 14 and 16, was just 7 years old when the abuse began.
Rolly Hammond worked at the after-school program at West Springfield Elementary School when he befriended the boys,” prosecutors said. He became so trusted by the family he was allowed to take them to concerts, other outings and to his home where some of the sex abuse took place.
Hammond instructed the boys not to tell about the multiple times he abused them, but they reported them earlier this year.
“What he chose to do to our boys set our lives spiraling off,” the victims’ mother said in a victim impact statement.
“We’ve been robbed of our normal,” she added. “We will never get that back.”
Asking for leniency, Hammond’s attorney pointed out he pleaded guilty to spare the boys from testifying.
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Hammond offered an apology.
“I’m so sorry for hurting you and everything that I’ve put you through,” he said. “You have both shown so much courage and strength.”
He also told the boys he was proud of how they’ve handled things, which seemed to infuriate Judge Michael Devine.
“I don’t buy a word of what you’ve said,” he told Hammond. “It makes me want to puke.”
“If you loved these children, you wouldn’t have put a hand on them,” he added. And, “Your seconds of pleasure that you were looking for … have cost them a lifetime of pain.”
The eight-year sentence is near the top of the sentencing range. Hammond will be supervised for several years after that, and the judge warned him never to have contact with the family again.
