Commonwealth Attorney: SWVA man sentenced in 2016 sexual assault of 14-year-old

LEE COUNTY, Va. (WJHL) – A Lee County, Virginia man was sentenced on Thursday to serve 70 years and one day in prison for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in 2016.

CBS affiliate WJHL reports according to a release from Commonwealth Attorney H. Fuller Cridlin, Steven Maness was convicted by a jury in October 2018 following a week-long trial.

Maness was found guilty of sexually assaulting the girl in his vehicle.

His sentence was recommended by the jury.

“We are pleased that the Circuit Court formally accepted the verdict and imposed the jury-recommended sentence of 70 years and 1 day to serve, effectively amounting to a life sentence for the defendant,” Cridlin said in the release.

Cridlin also thanked the victim for having the courage to testify in the case.