KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City, Missouri, man was sentenced to two life sentences without parole for raping a 13-year-old girl, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office said Friday.
Antoine Ellis, 32, was convicted in March of two counts of first-degree statutory rape and one count of child enticement.
A Jackson County judge on Thursday sentenced Ellis to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the rape convictions, the Prosecutor’s Office said.
The judge also set a third sentence of 15 years to run concurrently with the two life sentences.
According to court records, family members of the victim told police about sexually explicit text messages sent between Ellis and the 13-year-old victim in 2016. Some of the texts referred to a two-year sexual relationship, the prosecutor’s office said.
Ellis denied having a sexual relationship with the girl and said that someone else had his phone when the text messages were sent, according to records.
Ellis previously pleaded guilty in 2007 to first-degree statutory rape of a person under 14 years old in St. Charles, Missouri.
