CASSOPOLIS, Mich. — From 2010 to 2019, Craig Lawrence raped his two minor daughters in their family home in Cassopolis, Michigan.
Tuesday afternoon a jury in Cass County found him guilty on ten counts related to the assaults.
The two girls, now 21 and 14 years old, testified that their father began grooming them at an early age before eventually escalating to the numerous assaults over the course of a decade which the girls described as "unspeakable."
Cass County Prosecutor Victor A. Fitz said both girls provided emotional and convincing recollections of the "highly disturbing sexual abuse meted upon them by their own father."
Fitz shared that Lawrence's wife, the mother of the two girls, also testified saying Lawrence is extremely controlling. Fitz said she indicated from the stand that when the girls came to her and told her what had happened she reported the crimes to the Cass County Sheriff's Department.
Testimony showed that the assaults occurred at the family's home on Brownsville Street in Cassopolis. When Lawrence took the stand toward the end of the trial, he claimed that the girls were concocting the rape allegations in order to seek some kind of financial gain.
After just under three hours of deliberation, the jury returned their verdict.
Lawrence was found guilty on ten counts of First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a minimum of 25 years, and seven counts of Second Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.
"This was a terrible betrayal by someone who should have been the strongest protector for his own daughters," said Fitz. "But these brave girls have assured that the defendant’s predatory days are over. We appreciate the efforts of the jury in providing validation for these survivors and justice for this rapist."
Lawrence is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 26, 2024 at 8:30 a.m.
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