Wake County Man Sentenced To 16 Years In Prison For Sex Crimes Involving Teen

Larry Wayne Ellington, 31, pleaded guilty to seven various felony sex acts involving a child, and posting pictures of those acts on the Internet.

The mother of the alleged victim told people in the courtroom how the incident has affected her family's life.

"I'm really devastated that this has happened. He's destroyed all my friends and destroyed by family," said the mother of the alleged victim.

The judge consolidated the charges, and in a plea bargain, Ellington was spared a life sentence. He will serve a prison term of 16 to 20 years.

"These kinds of cases are just very difficult ones from the standpoint that the potential jail time is so high," said Rick Gammon, defense attorney. "He would have gotten a natural life sentence had he gone to trial and it is by the agreement between the district attorney's office and ourselves and Mr. Ellington -- at least he'll be 47 years if he is released in 16 years."

"If he agreed to a plea bargain that I was satisfied with and the family was satisfied with and accomplished what we hoped it would -- which is to not only to punish him, but segregate him from the general population for a significant period of time -- then everyone was satisfied and thought justice was served," said Deborah Shandles, assistant Wake County district attorney.

Ellington will be required to register as a sex offender after his release, and was ordered to seek psychiatric counseling.