Milton resident Terry Jonathan Phillips was sentenced to life in prison Friday being found guilty of sexually battering a child between the ages of two and four.
Circuit Court Judge David Rimmer passed sentence “immediately following the verdict,” a news release from the First Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office said.
Phillips was the second Santa Rosa County resident Rimmer sentenced to life in prison last week for sexually abusing a child. James Raymond Armstrong, 63, also of Milton, was sentenced Wednesday after being convicted in November of attempted sexual battery on a victim under 12, lewd or lascivious molestation and lewd or lascivious exhibition in the presence of a child.
Phillips, 32, was convicted of three counts of sexual battery on a victim less than 12 years of age and one count of lewd and lascivious molestation, the State Attorney’s Office said.
Reports filed at the time of Phillips’ arrest in late August of 2017 state information that a 4-year-old girl had disclosed she’d been inappropriately touched by Phillips came to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office from the Florida Department of Children and Families.
An arrest warrant stated the girl said she’d been abused several times. The warrant was issued the day after the Sheriff’s Office learned of the accusations against Phillips.
The offenses committed by Phillips occurred between Jan. 20, 2015 and Aug. 30, 2017, the State Attorneys Office said.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton man gets life for sexually battering a child