Thursday Dec. 9th, a jury in 35th District Court convicted 24-year-old Thomas James Colman, Jr. of Continuous Sexual Assault of a Child and sentenced him to 35 years in prison without a chance of parole.

Coleman was indicted this past spring by the Brown/Mills County Grand Jury for the offense.  The jury heard evidence that the sexual assault was of a 5-year-old girl that occurred between January 2008 and August of 2009.

During the trial, District Attorney Micheal Murray stated that a relative had been babysitting the victim along with two siblings when Coleman came home from work.

A short time later, the relative found Coleman in a bed with the victim Murray said.  According to law enforcement reports, Coleman denied the incident at first, claiming that he had just been changing the child’s clothes; however evidence in the trial proved otherwise.

Coleman was sentenced to 35 years without parole for the felony offense.