Man claims “the devil” made him sexually abuse a five-year-old girl. Now he has to go to prison

IDAHO FALLS – A 36-year-old man will serve a lengthy prison sentence after being convicted Monday of sexually abusing a child.

Everett Guyn Haynes IV was sentenced by District Judge Dane Watkins to a minimum of five years and a maximum of 35 years in prison for lewd conduct with a child under the age of 16.

Haynes was also sentenced to a minimum of five years and a maximum of 25 years in prison for sexual abuse of a child.

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Both sentences will be served concurrently. Haynes must register as a sex offender and pay at least $8,070.50 in court costs and fines.

Haynes initially pleaded not guilty, but signed a plea agreement in March in which he agreed to plead guilty in return for prosecutors recommending a minimum sentence of five years in prison. However, prosecutors could still seek any maximum sentence they wanted.

According to Bonneville County District Attorney Randy Neal, Haynes’ defense attorney, John Thomas, argued for a maximum sentence of eight years, while the prosecution asked for a maximum sentence of 30 years.

background

On December 6, 2022, a 15-year-old girl stated during a forensic interview that she had been sexually abused by Haynes when she was five years old, court documents state.

After the interview, an Idaho Falls police officer spoke with the victim’s mother, who told police Haynes had moved to North Carolina and was aware of the victim’s account. The woman said Haynes, if confronted with the allegations, would “try to remember” but that he had not had contact with the victim in about 10 years.

The mother and victim agreed to create a fake Facebook profile with the victim’s name and photo so the officer could get Haynes to correspond with him via Facebook Messenger.

On April 11, 2023, the officer began speaking with Haynes and had a conversation that lasted “several weeks.”

Throughout the conversation, Haynes believed he was speaking to the victim, but in reality he was speaking to the police officer.

The officer confronted Haynes multiple times about the sexual abuse allegations, and Haynes initially denied the allegations, saying he did not commit the acts, then added that he “couldn’t remember.”

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Eventually, police said, Haynes made “multiple confessions” to each charge and provided “approximate dates and locations where he committed the crimes.”

He also admitted how he got away with the abuse and why he was “afraid of getting caught.”

According to police reports, Haynes said he sexually assaulted the victim because she was “beautiful,” “new,” and “fresh.”

During the text message conversation, Haynes told the victim, who was actually the officer, to lie to police if questioned about the allegations.

On May 2, 2023, an arrest warrant was issued for Haynes and he was booked into the Bonneville County Jail on May 25, 2023.

At a later preliminary hearing, the officer stated, “(Haynes) said it was wrong of him and he did it because he was young and the devil told him to do it.”