Guillermo Figueroa-Menendez: Man sentenced to six life sentences for child abuse in Virginia

A man in Virginia has been sentenced to six mandatory life sentences, plus 30 years in prison, for sex offences involving a minor that went on for a decade, authorities said.

Guillermo Enrique Figueroa-Menendez, 64, was given the sentence in Loudoun County Circuit Court after he pleaded guilty to nine counts of sexual offences against a minor.

Officials said the minor was a child under 13 years old.

Two of the victim’s relatives testified at a March hearing in the case.

The victim’s mother told the judge, “I want to be able to assure my son that he never has to worry about this man again,” according to a statement from the Loudoun County commonwealth’s attorney’s office.

Another relative said Figueroa-Menendez was a “predator, abuser, pedophile and sick monster living in our midst.”

Judge J. Howe Brown Jr. called it one of the worst cases of abuse he had ever heard, according to the commonwealth’s attorney’s office.

“There are few crimes that involve such profound betrayal and lasting damage than those where a child is sexually abused,” Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Nicole Wittmann said in the office’s statement.

She said the child has a loving family and community of supporters to help him deal with the “impact of this crime,” and that, she said, “gives us all much hope.”