Sexual Predator Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison for Assault of 11-year-old Girl

VICTORVILLE – A 32-year-old Victorville man was sentenced on Wednesday morning to six years in state prison for the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl in February, the District Attorney’s office said. Aristarchus Verrett was found guilty by a jury last month for one count each of Lewd Acts Upon a Child and Engaging in Lewd Conduct. The second count was for an unrelated incident where Verrett was witnessed masturbating on the sales floor at a Kohl’s.

Officials said that Verrett entered the Bed, Bath and Beyond Store located at 12410 Amargosa Road in the City of Victorville seeking out an underaged girl. He located an 11-year-old girl and while she was sitting in a massage chair in the front of the store with her 14-year-old sister Verrett began talking to her. “He told her she’s really pretty and asked about her necklace,” said Yang. “The defendant then asked the victim how her massage was going and then made a lewd comment. He then leaned forward and placed both of his hands on the victim’s upper thighs, with his thumbs on her inner thighs.”

The victim, who testified that she was scared she would be kidnapped froze. Her older sister witnessed this and grabbed her running to their mother to tell her. The child’s mother confronted Verrett, who denied touching the girl. Deputies later made contact with and interviewed Verrett at which time he admitted to getting aroused “and that if there were no laws and no one was around, he would have gone further with the victim.”

Verrett will be required to register as a sex offender when released, officials said in the press release. “Fortunately, we were able to remove this sexual predator from our community and secure justice for the victim and her family,” said Yang. “However, this still remains a traumatic experience for the victim to this day. Her sister testified in court that they don’t talk about what happened because even four months after the crime occurred, her younger sister is still very much affected by what had happened.”

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