Library Rapist Sentenced to 65 Years

Nineteen-year-old Kendrick Morris will spend the next 65 years behind bars.

Today, Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Chet A. Tharpe handed down a sentence of three 65-year sentences, one 30-year sentence and two 15-year sentences, to be served concurrently, for the Clair-Mel man convicted of raping a 62-year-old woman at a Clair-Mel daycare center in June 2007. Morris also has been convicted of raping an East Bay High School student at the Bloomingdale Regional Library when he was 16 years old.

The sentence followed a tearful account from Morris’ first victim, the daycare worker. The East Bay High School student, injured so badly she can no longer speak or walk, was not in court today. But her mother and sister was. The victim’s sister read a statement on behalf of her mother, saying “I no longer have to carry the anger…We have no hatred.”

Morris reportedly was unfazed by the sentence.

Prior to Tharpe handing down his sentence, the defense argued that Morris is a product of an abusive childhood and can be rehabilitated. The defense asked that he be sentenced accordingly.

Morris’ attorneys have 30 days to appeal the sentence.

You can read more about today’s proceedings at http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/bloomingdale-library-rapist-kendrick-morris-to-receive-sentence-in-court/1170755.