Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The gavel has come down hard as a convicted child rapist gets some hefty prison time for his deeds. Dominique Justice will likely be sitting behind bars for the remainder of his life after receiving a sentence of 105 years for multiple acts of child sexual abuse.

In the long list of infractions is the rape of a child, incest and statutory rape involving a biological half-sister.

Criminal Court Judge Zackary R. Walden handed down the sentence that was a couple of years in the making. Justice was arrested in 2019 following his discovery inside a closet of a Harrogate residence and took a plea deal in 2021 on 96 counts of a sexual nature. Those included 28 counts of the rape of a child, 48 counts of incest and 20 counts of aggravated statutory rape. Former Claiborne Criminal Judge Shayne Sexton has retired since presiding over Justice’s 2021 case. Sexton said in a previous interview that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a back-up in the legal system.

The Criminal Investigation and Patrol Divisions of the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Office were attempting the execution of an outstanding warrant on a fugitive at the time Justice was found inside the Lincoln Drive home.

This case was investigated by Det. Rocky White and Lt. Det. Jason Henegar and was prosecuted by Assistant D.A. Carla N. Brewer, assisted during the investigative and trial preparation phases by Assistant District Attorneys Courtney Rickert and Graham Wilson.

The Claiborne County Child Advocacy Center and the Department of Children’s Services were an integral part of the investigation and prosecution of this case, said Brewer.