A man was sentenced to at least a century in prison for raping his teenage foster daughter, who he claimed he injected with a syringe of his semen.
A Nebraska man was sentenced to at least a century in prison for raping his teenage foster daughter.
Brandon Weathers, 39, said that he injected the 13-year-old girl with a syringe of his semen because she wanted to get pregnant.
Representing himself, Weathers unsuccessfully argued that he was, at most, guilty of “child abuse or something,” as he continually asserted he never had sex with the girl, according to reports.
But his argument fell on deaf ears, as the convicted felon was sentenced to 100 to 160 years in prison for two counts of sexual assault of a child, the Omaha World-Herald reported.
“I’ve heard a lot of things, working in this building over the years. And that sir is one of the most ridiculous,” Douglas County Judge Shelley Stratman said to Weathers of his syringe defense during sentencing.
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“You are a menace. You are a threat to society. You’re one of the worst I’ve seen,” she said.
Despite Weathers’ three felony convictions and stints in prison in the 1990s and early 2000s, he and his wife—who has since filed for divorce— were approved to become foster parents in 2013.
State policy does not exclude felons from becoming foster parents, as long as the crimes committed do not include murder, child abuse or sex offenses.
In addition to the victim, the couple fostered the girl’s 10-year-old sister, and at one point, two boys.
The girl, now 15, testified in December that Weathers quickly went from showering her with affection in a fatherly way she never experienced before to raping her.
She told her younger sister within two months of moving into the home that she and “Mr. Brandon” had been having sex.
A camp counselor overheard the confession and alerted Health and Human Services officials, who removed the girls from the home.
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But the separation did not prevent further abuse, as officials said Weathers continued to sexually assault the girl and supplied her with pay-as-you-go cell phones to stay in touch.
She told a Project Harmony interviewer that she and Weathers had sex “too many times to count,” and that her foster father said he was “lucky to have me” and “would never let me go,” the Scottsbluff Star Herald wrote.
In one instance, Weathers pulled out a plastic syringe that he said he would insert into her to “protect himself” from any possible trouble, the girl testified. They then had sex, she said.
He also tried to make her take the morning-after pill, but she refused and discovered she was pregnant in November 2014. She soon suffered a miscarriage.
Tissue collected from the fetal sample revealed the victim and Weathers’ DNA, authorities said.
“He violated this young, vulnerable girl in every way possible,” said prosecutor Brenda Beadle, the Omaha World-Herald wrote.
“What he caused this victim and continues to cause her is not even comprehensible. Fortunately, she is a very smart, strong, loving girl with a wonderful network of support.”
With mandatory terms for child sex crimes, Weathers won’t be eligible for parole for 65 years. Absent parole, he cannot be released for 95 years.
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