LYNN, MASS. (WHDH) - A former school bus driver who raped a 13-year-old special needs girl in 1998 will spend the next 15 to 17 years behind bars after pleading guilty to a child rape charge on Thursday, officials said.
Henry Gonzalez, 44, formerly of Lynn, pleaded guilty in Salem Superior Court to one count of rape of a child and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 stemming from the December 1998 rape of a special needs student in Lynn, according to the Essex District Attorney’s Office.
Upon his release, Gonzalez must register as a sex offender, receive sex offender treatment, and wear a GPS monitoring device.
Gonzalez had been scheduled to stand trial in June of 2000, but fled to the Dominican Republic.
He was at large until last year, when he was captured and returned to the United States.
In a statement, Essex District Attorney Jonathan D. Blodgett said, “Even after the passage of all these years, law enforcement did not stop in its effort to seek justice for the victim and hold the defendant accountable for his crimes.”
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