Austell man given two life sentences for nearly a decade of child sex abuse

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — An Austell man has been given two consecutive life sentences after being convicted of multiple counts of child molestation against two family members.

A Cobb County jury found Luis Alonso Lopez, 50, guilty of seven counts of seven counts of aggravated child molestation and three counts of child molestation. He was acquitted of one count of child molestation.

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Prosecutors said that between 2008 and 2017, Lopez manipulated and repeatedly sexually abuse two male relatives when they were children between the ages of 8 and 14.

The victims testified that Lopez promised them gifts to lure them to his bedroom, where he committed the sexual attacks.

Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann B. Harris showed Lopez to be “a serial sexual predator of young boys.”

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“You preyed on your own family members and used their trust, and their love for you, as a tool to enable your predatory sexual activity. You bribed them with money and toys, and withheld attention when they resisted your sexual activity. You utterly robbed them of their childhood. And regardless of what you told those little boys, that ‘everybody did this and it was normal,’ you knew it was wrong. You told them it was vital that they not tell anyone and that no one know about it, and on at least one occasion, held your hand over the little boy’s mouth so no one would hear him scream,” Judge Harris said.

Lopez is currently serving his sentence at the Rutledge State Prison.

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