LAKEVIEW — A Lakeview man was sentenced to over a year in prison for raping an underage girl.

Carlos Romero, 20, of Lakeview, pleaded guilty to third-degree child rape. Following a joint recommendation between Deputy Prosecutor Ed Owens and defense attorney Robert Kentner, Grant County Superior Court Judge David Estudillo sentenced Romero to 13 months in prison.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office was first made aware of Romero after learning he was possibly involved in a child assault case in early August 2016. A deputy contacted the underaged victim at Columbia Basin Hospital in Ephrata, where she detailed how the incident had occurred.

She said she was at a family member’s residence in Lakeview with Romero and he put a movie on for them to watch. She said after a while Romero switched to another movie and he later started to inappropriately touch and rape her. The assault reportedly occurred for about five minutes and the victim said she later fell asleep after the incident.

She told an adult family member about the assault later in the day, with the adult confronting Romero about the report. Romero said he would have never touched the victim, “because that was disgusting,” according to court documents. He later reportedly told the victim’s sister “the truth” about what had occurred.

The victim was transported to Confluence Health-Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee to undergo a sexual assault examination. A sexual assault nurse examiner confirmed the victim showed signs of sexual trauma.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.