TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa man who was convicted of molesting his girlfriend's 10-year-old daughter and attempting to destroy the evidence with bleach was sentenced to life in prison Monday afternoon.
On April 13, 2019, 43-year-old Lewis Matthews undressed, molested, and sexually battered his girlfriend's 10-year-old daughter after she fell asleep on the floor of her living room, according to the state attorney's office. Investigators say the child's mother came downstairs and – stunned by what she discovered – called 911.
Matthews then, according to prosecutors, drove the child and two other children in the home to a nearby gas station where he brought the 10-year-old inside. Investigators say he told the girl to go into the bathroom where he removed her pants and underwear and splashed Clorox bleach on her genitals before throwing her underwear in a dumpster behind the store.
Investigators add that Matthews has been dating the child's mother for several years and was "like a stepfather to her."
Hillsborough County investigators say they were able to find Matthew's DNA on the bleach-stained underwear as well as the child's body and other clothing.
Earlier this month, a jury found Matthews guilty of four separate felonies: sexual battery of a child younger than 12, two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under 12, and tampering with physical evidence.
“Parents who are sexually abusing kids in their custody—it makes your blood boil. That’s why we’re aggressively prosecuting cases like these. And that’s why these people deserve to spend the rest of their lives in prison,” Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren said.
Technically, Matthews was given life in prison for the sexual battery on a child charge and 25 years for each of the lewd or lascivious molestation counts, along with five additional years for tampering with physical evidence. The sentences will run concurrently.
"Because a life sentence was handed down for one of the charges, the other sentences aren’t as consequential—the life sentence trumps the others, so Matthews will be incarcerated for the rest of his life and will die in prison," a Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office spokesperson wrote via email.
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