CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — In an impact statement read aloud by the prosecution, a young girl bravely shared how the sexual abuse she endured affected her in more ways than anyone could imagine.

A jury convicted 50-year-old Antonio Eliberto Lopez on Oct. 3 of rape, trafficking persons of sexual servitude, and child molestation. Cherokee County Chief Superior Court Judge David Cannon Jr. sentenced Lopez on Oct. 28 to life in prison.

Prosecutors said the 12-year-old girl was abused over a five-month period.

“The rape was not only an act of physical violence, it was an assault on my soul, my identity, and my fundamental sense of security, and I live with the constant trauma," her victim impact statement said.

It was read aloud in court by Assistant District Attorney Leyna Pope of the Blue Rid

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