The missing child poster for 5-year-old Rilya Wilson is shown May 8, 2002 in Miami, FL. Wilson has been missing since January 2001 when someone claiming to work for the Florida Department of Children and Families (DFC) took her from her grandmother's home. The DFC reported her missing on April 25, 2002 and has no record of anyone taking her. (Photo courtesy of Miami-Dade Police Department/Getty Images)
MIAMI (AP) — A South Florida woman who once cared for missing 4-year-old foster child Rilya Wilson has been sentenced to 55 years in prison for kidnapping and child abuse convictions.
Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez imposed the sentence Tuesday on 67-year-old Geralyn Graham. Jurors could not agree last month on her guilt or innocence on a murder charge, and prosecutors will not retry Graham on that count.
Graham’s sentencing closes a case that spanned more than a decade since Rilya went missing in December 2000. Her disappearance wasn’t discovered for 15 months, leading to reform laws and a high-level shakeup within Florida’s child welfare agency.
The prosecution was complicated because Rilya’s body was never found and there were no witnesses. Graham consistently denied harming the girl.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
