Depending on the result of an appeal, 34-year-old Russell Paul Patterson Jr of Emporia is set to spend nearly 14 years in prison after his convictions on sexual abuse of a child.
Patterson was sentenced to 165 months in prison at a hearing Monday. The overall sentence reflects a conviction on one count of aggravated human trafficking as the controlling sentence. A 155-month sentence for rape and a 41-month sentence for commercial sexual exploitation of a child are to be served concurrently, or simultaneously, as opposed to consecutively.
Patterson was convicted in April on single counts of rape, commercial exploitation and aggravated human trafficking involving a then-17-year-old victim this past July.
Sentencing on Monday followed an unsuccessful defense motion for a new trial, citing prosecutor misstatements on evidence, alleged prosecutor comments on defendant credibility and prosecutor misconduct on victim testimony. A notice of appeal was filed almost immediately after Judge Lee Fowler handed down the sentence.
