Convicted child molester Raymond Friley was sentenced Friday in Warren County Circuit Court to 15 years in the Mississippi State Penitentiary.

Friley, 33, 101 Allendale Drive, had been found guilty Nov. 10 of touching a child younger than 16 for lustful purposes.

During the sentencing, he rarely looked up as Circuit Court Judge Isadore Patrick announced the sentence.

“Our children should not have to be distrustful of all males outside of their immediate family,” Patrick said. “Mr. Friley, you violated the trust of this young girl, and she will be affected forever.”

Because the crime was sexual, Friley will not be eligible for early release. The sentence is the maximum for the charges.

The teen-age victim had testified that more than five years ago, when she was 9 years old, Friley had placed his hand in her swimsuit bottom and molested her in a pool house at her grandmother’s home.

She said she did not tell anyone about the abuse because she feared retribution from Friley. Only after talking with some friends at school last year did she tell what had happened to her, she said.

In his testimony, Friley denied the allegations.

During the three-day trial, Friley denied working for Yelverton Pool Service in 1995, even though evidence including a tax form and dozens of endorsed payroll checks showed he was employed by the pool service that year.

Friley said he had no knowledge of the W-2 tax form that showed how much he earned in 1995.

Friley was arrested and charged with two counts of perjury. After being released from the Warren County Jail on those charges, Friley went to Vicksburg Medical Center and claimed he was suffering a mental collapse.

Patrick also gave instruction that Friley was to undergo psychological evaluation during his prison stay.

“I’m pleased with the outcome,” the victim’s mother said. But, “as far as I’m concerned, life wouldn’t have been enough.”

The sentencing was the second in a month in Warren County Circuit Court for child molestation.

On Nov. 16, John Timothy Harris, 35, 1900 Baldwin Ferry Road, was found guilty of sexual battery of a 7-year-old girl. He subsequently was sentenced to 30 years in the state penitentiary.