Methuen man sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting girl

May 7—METHUEN — A Methuen man charged with sexually molesting a young girl at a Rhode Island home has been ordered to serve 12 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Wilton Rodriguez, 40, was sentenced after pleading no contest to two counts of first-degree child molestation, according to a statement from the Rhode Island attorney general's office.

Pleading no contest means Rodriguez did not accept or deny responsibility for the charges, but agreed to accept punishment, prosecutors said.

Rodriguez sexually assaulted the girl multiple times at a Providence home in 2017, authorities said. They said the victim was under the age of 14 and was known to him.

"Even following a conviction, we recognize that this office's efforts to achieve justice in a case where a 'trusted' adult sexually exploits a young child can only go so far,'" Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said in a written statement. "The lasting harm inflicted upon victims and their families by the reprehensible criminal conduct of perpetrators like that of the defendant here causes irreparable damage."

According to court documents, Rodriguez was indicted in 2018 by a Rhode Island grand jury on four counts of sexually assaulting the girl and two counts of inappropriate touching.

At an April 26 hearing before Superior Court Judge Maureen Keough, Rodriguez was sentenced to 25 years at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston, Rhode Island, with 12 years to serve and the rest of the sentence suspended to probation, officials said.

If Rodriguez is charged with another crime while on probation, he could be sent to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence, according to the judge's order.

Rodriguez must also register as a sex offender, undergo sex offender counseling and have no contact with the victim, the judge's order said.