55-year-old SC man gets 20-year prison sentence for sexual assault on disabled girl
A Rock Hill man will spend most of the next two decades in prison after a York County trial jury convicted him of a sexual assault on a disabled girl.
York County Judge Dan Hall sentenced Xavier Lamar Holbrooks, 55, to the maximum of 20 years without parole allowed for second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. South Carolina law requires Holbrooks must serve at least 85 percent of the 20-year sentence, or 17 years, before he is eligible for release.
The trial at the Moss Justice Center in York started Tuesday and ended late Wednesday after the jury deliberated more than two hours. DNA played a key role in the case because testimony wasn’t allowed from the victim.
Prosecutors: Vulnerable victim not competent to testify
The victim was 13 years old at the time of the 2021 assault, said prosecutor Misti Shelton, 16th Circuit assistant deputy solicitor. She has severe intellectual disabilities, Shelton said.
“We felt very strongly about pursuing a conviction after knowing how vulnerable she was,” Shelton said after court. “This conviction brings justice to one of the most vulnerable victims I have ever encountered.”
Shelton and assistant solicitor Landon Finnie were able to get a conviction against Holbrooks despite not being able to use testimony from the victim because the judge ruled before the trial started the victim was not competent to testify.
The Herald does not identify victims of sexual crimes. Shelton said trial testimony showed Holbrooks knew the victim’s family.
DNA makes the case
Without a victim able to testify, prosecutors used DNA evidence to make the case. Testimony from DNA experts from the State Law Enforcement Division showed Holbrooks was a contributor to the DNA found on the victim, Shelton said.
Trial testimony showed the chain of DNA evidence collected after the incident in 2021 through the DNA testing that linked Holbrooks, Shelton said.
Holbrooks denied the charges and went to trial as is his right under the law. He did not testify.
Efforts to reach Holbrooks’ lawyers from the 16th Circuit Public Defender’s Office for comment about the verdict and sentence were unsuccessful Thursday.
Holbrooks has 10 days to appeal the conviction and sentence.
