Onslow County man pleads guilty to multiple child sex offense charges with infant
An Onslow County man has been convicted of sexually abusing an infant child.
According to a Facebook news release from the Onslow County Sheriff's Office Monday morning, former Naval Hospital Corpsman Second Class Ezekiel Coy Stone, of Ashbury Park Lane in Richlands, pled guilty on Friday to first-degree statutory sexual offense of a child by an adult and first-degree statutory rape of a child by an adult.
He was sentenced to 18-20 years in prison.
Onslow County District Attorney Ernie Lee explained evidence showed Stone engaged in various sexual acts with an 8-week-old victim.
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The release said the investigation started on October 22, 2018, when the Onslow County Sheriff's Office Special Victims Unit was contacted by Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) regarding their arrest of a man named Joshua Smith on child pornography charges.
NCIS told detectives information was received during their investigation of Smith’s case that Stone was sending photos of himself sexually abusing an infant child, the release said.
The Daily News previously reported Stone was accused of sending photos of himself sexually abusing a little girl, described as an infant by deputies to another person using Kik, a cell phone app.
On October 23, 2018, detectives from the special victims unit and NCIS agents conducted a search of Stone’s residence and took him into custody.
At the time of his arrest, the release said, Stone was charged with felony first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, felony second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, felony sex offense by an adult, felony child abuse - sexual act, and felony indecent liberties with a child.
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Reporter Morgan Starling can be reached at mstarling@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on The Daily News: Onslow County man headed to prison on child sex abuse charges with infant
