Child Rapist to Serve Three Life Sentences

MARIETTA, GA -- A man who was found guilty Wednesday of raping and sodomizing a 9-year-old girl has been sentenced to serve three consecutive life sentences.

Late Wednesday afternoon, a Cobb jury took just 40 minutes to convict Francisco Melendez, 19, of kidnapping, rape, aggravated child molestation, and aggravated sodomy for the acts he committed against the girl.

Melendez was a friend of the girl’s family and was staying with the family in their apartment on Winterset Parkway, off Powers Ferry Road near Delk Road, in Marietta.

Just after midnight on Dec. 7, 2014, Melendez woke the child up and took her outside and around the side of the apartment building, where he raped her. The girl disclosed the assault to her mother as soon as Melendez took her back to her apartment, and Marietta Police were notified. A medical exam revealed injuries consistent with rape.

“For this little girl, December 7, 2014, was a nightmare. But it wasn’t a dream – it wasn’t some fake monster under her bed. This girl’s monster was real. And her nightmare doesn’t end until you say it does. Take this verdict form and tell her that her nightmare is over,” ADA Hannah Palmquist urged jurors during closing arguments.

On Thursday, Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary E. Staley sentenced Melendez to serve three consecutive life sentences.