By Shawn McGrath
A 31-year-old Alexandria man was sentenced to six years in prison Tuesday for having sex with a 14-year-old girl.
Madison Superior Court 1 Judge Dennis Carroll gave Steven A. McClure a 12-year sentence for a single count of sexual misconduct with a minor, a Class B felony. Carroll ordered six years of the sentence suspended and on probation. A Class B felony is punishable by six to 20 years in prison.
In an agreement with prosecutors, McClure pleaded guilty as charged and any executed time was to be capped at six years.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed with the charge:
McClure and his wife were living with the girl and her mother in January 2007 to save money. During the months McClure was living at the girl’s home, he and the teen began having sex.
The girl’s mother eventually became suspicious and contacted Alexandria authorities in August 2007. The girl told detectives she had sex with McClure five to 10 times, beginning when she was 14.
Carroll cited the circumstances of the case, and the age difference between McClure and the girl, as aggravating circumstances. He found McClure’s guilty plea, remorse and health problems as mitigating factors. McClure is bipolar and suffers from a seizure disorder, according to court documents.
McClure also faces an unrelated charge of neglect of a dependent, a Class D felony that carries a sentence of six months to three years.
According to the affidavit filed with that charge:
Anderson police were called to the home McClure shared with his wife and 3-year-old son in the 300 block of Madison Avenue in May 2002 to assist firefighters after a refrigerator in the home had caught fire. Officers found the home strewn with trash, moldy food and broken glass. A wall was exposed, there was no water to the home’s lone toilet and the residence stank.
Shortly before officers arrived at the home, the toddler was taken to Community Hospital after drinking gasoline left in a coffee mug. McClure told investigators he had been using the gas to help a neighbor start a vehicle. After getting the neighbor’s vehicle started, he set the mug down where the boy was able to reach it.
McClure is scheduled to stand trial for neglect at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 12, in Madison County Court 2.
