Roderick Christopher Stewart
Robbinsville – An Alabama man will spend at least the next 30 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to committing statutory sex crimes over three years ago.
Roderick Christopher Stewart, 34 of Luverne, Ala., was sentenced to a total of 360-562 (30-47) years in prison after a plea agreement was announced in Graham County Superior Court. Stewart had been charged with three counts of statutory rape of a child by an adult; three counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor; three counts of statutory sex offense; three counts of indecent liberties; two counts of statutory rape; one count of statutory sex offense with a child by an adult; and one count of failure to register as a sex offender.
As part of his plea agreement, two counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor were dropped.
Stewart also received credit for 1,352 days of pre-trial confinement. While in prison, he must also complete the SOAR (Sex Offender Accountability and Responsibility) program, a 20-week course housed at the Harnett Correctional Institution that works to address and reduce the recidivism rate for incarcerated sex offenders. Per the plea agreement, Stewart is also ordered not to have any contact with the victim or the victim's family through any available medium.
Upon his release – which is currently scheduled to be when Stewart is 64, in 2055 – he is ordered to register as a lifetime sex offender and undergo satellite-based monitoring for the remainder of his life. He also amassed $13,581.75 in attorney's fees.
The victim and the victim's mother were present as the sentence was handed down in court, and began crying as reality set in that Stewart was going to the Department of Adult Corrections.
Timeline
Stewart was represented by court-appointed attorney Robert Gilligan, who admitted that his client needed help.
"He has a demon that some people struggle with," said Gilligan, who was noted as the fourth legal counsel assigned to Stewart during the case.
Assistant district attorney Jim Moore prosecuted the case and punctuated Gilligan's statement by pointing out Stewart's first conviction for a similar crime occurred in Gwinnett County, Ga., on May 17, 2010.
Just 19 at the time, Stewart was found guilty of statutory rape.
He was sentenced to 10 years, but only served from Sept. 27, 2010 – May 29, 2013 in Valdosta (Ga.) State Prison before being released on parole.
Stewart returned to Luverne and Moore said Tuesday he registered as a sex offender in Alabama. Documents supporting the case do not indicate exactly when Stewart met the victim's mother from Graham County, but it is known that he moved to the county to live with the mother and her minor children in November 2021.
Court records show that Stewart's sexual relationship with the victim – who was 12 at the time – began the same month. Statements made to authorities indicate that the activity occurred 5-7 times a week until the victim told the mother early on the morning of Feb. 23, 2022. After the victim and an older sibling were taken to school that day – and accompanied by another passenger – the mother began driving Stewart toward Alabama and confronted him with the allegations.
Stewart reportedly confessed, at which point the mother used her phone to locate the nearest police department and pulled into the Gordon County Sheriff's Office in Calhoun, Ga. Stewart fled before authorities could reach him, but was captured a short time later and charged with trespassing, possession of marijuana and failure to register as a sex offender – since he had not reported leaving Alabama.
Former Graham County Sheriff's Office Det. Patrick Cable interviewed the victim the same day and traveled to Calhoun to speak with Stewart in-person March 6, 2022. In a taped interview, Stewart denied the allegations, provided an explanation for failing to register as a sex offender in North Carolina and even unlocked his cell phone for Cable.
The detective found three videos and what was called "multiple" photos by the court that confirmed the initial report to authorities.
Impact statements
Stewart – under direction of officers present in the courtroom – kept his eyes fixed ahead Tuesday, while both the mother and the victim herself read impact statements for the record.
"You took something from my daughter she can never get back: her childhood," a portion of the mother's statement said. "You'll never be able to hurt a child the way you hurt her and that's the way we'll begin to heal."
"You being in jail won't make my life better, but it will put me at ease knowing you can't do it to another little girl," the victim later added.
Superior Court Judge Tessa Sellers handed down the sentence.