A Howard Circuit judge called the man he sentenced to 32 years in prison Thursday for sexually abusing the daughters of two ex-girlfriends “a very dangerous man.”
Ocie Black, 49, of Columbia, maintained his innocence Thursday but asked for forgiveness from the victim he sexually abused for five years while he was living with her mother.
Before Howard Circuit Judge Richard Bernhardt handed down the sentence, Black told him, “I’m not guilty of these charges … I need you to understand that I’m not a bad guy. I’m not a threat to society.”
He then turned to the victim, saying, “I hope that you become better. If I’ve done anything to you, at some point in your life, I hope you can forgive me.”
Bernhardt said he imposed the sentence after considering Black’s previous conviction for sexually abusing a different girlfriend’s daughter in 2001. He served two years in prison and was registered as a sex offender.
He also cited the trauma the victim suffered and her vulnerable age at the time of the abuse.
Black repeatedly molested the victim, now 18, when she was between the ages of 7 and 12 during court-ordered weekend visits to her mother’s house.
He threatened to hurt her family members if she told anyone, said prosecutor Lisa Broten.
“She was the … prey at his hands each and every time he woke her up in the middle of the night and molested her,” Broten said.
The victim, living in fear of her family’s safety, didn’t disclose the abuse until August 2007 when her grandmother asked her to look up the sex offender registry on the Internet and she saw Black’s photograph.
“I will carry the pain and abuse he has inflicted on me for the rest of my life,” the trembling victim said in court.
“He took away my innocent childhood. I will never be able to erase those disgusting memories from my thoughts.”
Black watched intently as the victim spoke, but he showed little emotion.
He must serve 50 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole and will register for life as a child sex offender.
Black also was indicted this week on unrelated child pornography charges, which are pending in federal court.
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