Rome man gets life in child molestation case
Scott Daniel Ghorley will serve three concurrent life sentences and be eligible for parole in 35 years.
A Rome man accused of sexually molesting a young girl was sentenced to life in prison Monday, despite pleas from his family — including his new wife.
Scott Daniel Ghorley, 36, was arrested in April 2016 on warrants alleging he had sex with a child under the age of 10 in December 2015.
“We are asking for a heavy, heavy sentence,” Assistant District Attorney Kevin Salmon told the judge.
Floyd County Superior Court Judge Billy Sparks sentenced Ghorley to life in prison on each of three counts: aggravated child molestation, aggravated sexual battery and aggravated sodomy on a child under 10 years old.
The sentences will run concurrently. Ghorley will be eligible for parole after 35 years, but will have to register as a sex offender.
He’ll also have to pay a $10,000 fine and court fees, is barred from contacting the child or her family and must pay restitution if she has any future medical or psychiatric needs.
“Every time she has a nightmare and screams ‘no’ in her sleep, a part of me dies,” the child’s mother said in a statement read in court by a relative.
“Where does a parent go from here … How do you give an innocent child her innocence back?”
The woman and child have moved out of state.
Ghorley’s mother and several family friends testified that he’s a hard worker and a good person who would not have committed the crimes — but Sparks reminded them that his guilt was determined at trial. A woman who said she met Ghorley 10 months ago and married him early this year pleaded for mercy.
“He loves my kids and my kids love him,” she said. “I can’t believe he’d
do something like this. He’s not that person.”
Ghorley also insisted on his innocence.
That’s one reason Sparks gave for not considering the minimum sentences of 25 years to serve. It’s partly because of the nature of the crimes, he said, partly because Ghorley has a record and “in part because you do not accept responsibility for your actions.”
Ghorley is being represented by Public Defender Teddy Lee Henley. He has 30 days to move for a new trial or file notice of appeal.