Kendrick Morris sentenced to 65 years for library/day care rapes

Tampa, Florida – Under tight security, convicted rapist Kendrick Morris, 19, was sentenced to 65 years in prison on Friday.

Last year Morris was convicted of raping a 62-year-old day care worker in 2007 and raping and beating near death a high school girl outside the Bloomingdale library in 2008.

Judge Chet Tharpe gave two sentences of 65 years each to Morris, but ruled that the two sentences run concurrently. The judge felt that if he ordered them back-to-back, he would be in violation of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving juvenile criminals.

On Friday afternoon, witnesses for the defense are talking about how childhood abuse could have affected Morris’s behavior.

A string of prosecution witnesses have already asked the judge to give Morris the maximum sentence. Those witnesses have included the day care victim herself, and relatives and friends of the library victim who suffered severe brain damage.

For more on the emotional testimony and the judge’s decision watch 10 News at 5 and 6 p.m.

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