Convicted child molester gets 80 years

WAZNEY

A Sumter County jury on Wednesday convicted a man accused of molesting his step-granddaughter, and a judge sentenced him to 80 years in prison.

The verdict and ruling culminated a two-day trial at Sumter County Judicial Center during which Robert Wazney, a 43-year-old Sumter man, was being tried on multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

Jurors deliberated and found the man guilty on four counts of the molestation charges, and Circuit Court Judge Maite Murphy followed up the conviction by sentencing Wazney to consecutive 20-year prison terms on each charge.

This week was not the defendant’s first time in the courtroom on the allegations. Wazney was initially tried last month during Sumter County’s previous session of criminal court.

However, an error in presentation during the testimony portion of that trial led to inadmissible information being disclosed before jurors. Consequently, the presiding judge declared a mistrial, and officials rescheduled the case for this month, according to 3rd Circuit Solicitor Ernest A. “Chip” Finney III.

The re-trial began Monday, with attorneys selecting a jury for the case.

Testimony and opening arguments got underway Tuesday morning.

Reports indicate Wazney was initially arrested in December 2013 and charged with five counts of first-degree criminal sexual misconduct with a minor under the age of 11, after he reportedly fondled an underage girl.

After investigating those allegations further, Sumter County deputies levied 27 additional counts against the man about six weeks later after discovering evidence of a four-year sexual relationship between Wazney and another underage girl, who was older than the first victim.

The charges in the second round of indictments included multiple counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, lewd act upon a minor and incest.
Finney said the older victim was the one for which Wazney was tried this week, indicating she was the defendant’s step-granddaughter. He noted prosecutors combined the 27 warrants that deputies filed against Wazney during the arrest stage of the case to develop the four counts for which he was tried during the trial.