Centennial – A 32-year-old man who posed as a teenager to gain the trust of 18 boys and one girl he later molested was sentenced Monday to 508 years in prison.
The victims – ages 9 to 16 – and their parents filled the Arapahoe County courtroom as Judge Michael Spear read off his sentences for 80 counts against Zuri-Kye McGhee.
Before sentencing, one mother read a statement from her two sons:
“You’re filthy, you’re a liar, and you’re a punk.”
Weeping, another mother testified, “How do you get past the hatred? How do you get past the pain he’s caused? … I wonder how they’ll feel five, 15, 50 years from now.
“I hope he, in prison, receives the same treatment he gave to our children.”
Another mother told the judge, “It’s time to put our fears to rest, and send this man to prison for the rest of his life.”
The Denver Post is not identifying the parents to protect the identity of their children, who are victims of sexual assault. The parents of all 19 victims were offered the opportunity to speak or allow their children to.
Over a five-year period, until he was arrested last year, McGhee pretended to be a 13-year-old to lure children into sexual activities. He sometimes impersonated Michael Jackson. Some victims said McGhee molested them hundreds of times, sometimes during sleep overs.
He was arrested in July 2005 after a 14-year-old boy told police that McGhee had attacked him. The boy had known McGhee since June 2002.
In the 1990s, McGhee was charged with 23 felony counts of criminal sexual contact with minors in New Mexico. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor and served a year in jail.
He moved to Colorado in 1999, and prosecutors say he met his first victim in early 2000.
Witnesses at the trial said McGhee was polite and attentive to children, earning their parents’ trust.
Spear told the parents and victims that parole would be a decision of the state Department of Corrections.
But prosecutor Melissa Drazen-Smith said the long sentence and McGhee’s criminal history all but guarantee that he will never be free again.
“There is no possibility he will ever be up for parole,” she said after the court proceedings. The scope of the crime, the number of victims and the lingering psychological damage the children suffered was reflected in the length of the sentence, she said.
“It was really evil,” she said of McGhee. “He took advantage of a lot of children and victimized them.”
Children in the courtroom exchanged smiles, and sometimes their parents patted them on the shoulders as the sentence against their attacker grew.
They exited through the back of the courtroom. Through Kathleen Walsh, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, they said they would reserve comments about the case until after McGhee’s mother stands trial next year.
Soldad McGhee, 54, is charged with complicity in her son’s sexual assaults on children. She faces life in prison, if convicted.
“She made it possible for Mr. McGhee to commit the crimes he did,” said deputy district attorney Christine Schober, another prosecutor in the case. “She knew what was going on, and she did nothing to stop it.”
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
