A Florida nanny has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing an 11-year-old boy, later giving birth to his child, PEOPLE confirms.
Marissa Mowry was 22 years old when she was hired to watch the child in January 2014. She soon began to have sexual contact with him. According to court testimony, Mowry repeatedly sexually abused him without using protection. In the fall of 2014, she gave birth to the victim’s child, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
In 2017, the boy told his mother about the abuse. She contacted police, who conducted a DNA test which proved that the boy was the father of Mowry’s child, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
In September, Mowry pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexual battery on a victim under the age of 12, according to WTVT.
On Wednesday, a judge sentenced her to 20 years in prison. After her release, she must complete 10 years of sex offender probation. She will be added to Florida’s sex offender registry, Bay News 9 reports.
Mowry is now 28; her alleged victim is now 17. The child they have together is 5.
The victim’s mother spoke to the Tampa Bay Times and said that Mowry’s actions changed her son’s life. She says that her son, still a student himself, takes his son to school in the morning before going to high school. He plays with the boy in the backyard after school.
In the interview, the victim’s mother blasts the former nanny. “We’re talking about a child that was 11,” she said. “Not even a teenager. Eleven.”
But the victim’s family says that there is a silver lining to Mowry’s criminal actions. “It has not ruined his life, but it’s changed his life,” the mother tells the newspaper. “But he has turned into one of the most amazing dads you’ll ever meet.”
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