A Virginia jury that found a man guilty after authorities accused him of encouraging his girlfriend to sexually abuse her 2-year-old son has recommended he serve two life sentences plus 45 years in prison.
A Montgomery County, Virginia, jury returned the verdict on Monday against McKenzie Kyle Hellman, 27, who faced five child sex and pornography charges, The Roanoke Times reported. The trial centered on the sexual abuse in January 2019 of Steven Dale Meek II, the son of Hellman’s girlfriend Kayla Thomas, also 27.
Circuit Court Judge Robert Turk set a sentencing hearing for June 29, when he will determine whether to accept the jury’s recommendation or to impose a different sentence for Hellman.
Hellman is also accused of killing the toddler and is to stand trial on a yet-to-be determined date on charges of second-degree murder and child abuse.
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The case was the first jury trial held in the New River Valley since the coronavirus pandemic began. Jurors were spread throughout the courtroom’s spectator area to lessen the chances of transmitting the virus and the only spectators allowed inside were two journalists and two relatives of Meek’s father. More relatives watched via a monitor in a hallway.
