Rapist gets nine years

Victor Veliz, 40, was sentenced to nine years in prison — six for a single charge of sexual battery and three for a single charge of gross sexual imposition.He was originally charged with 33 sex crimes, including six counts of rape. One charge carried a possible sentence of 25 years to life in prison because one of the victims was younger than 10 when Veliz raped her, prosecutors said. Veliz made no statement to the court before his sentencing, said his attorney, Tom DeBacco.DeBacco declined to comment further on the case, other than noting Veliz avoided the possibility of a mandatory life sentence. The plea agreement keeps the victims from being required to testify against Veliz, Huron County prosecutor Russ Leffler said. "I think we could have nailed him on the whole thing, but they don't have to testify now," Leffler said. Both girls are now in their early teens. "It's a case where we didn't have scientific evidence that was really going to cinch it," Leffler said. "We had the word of the girls, and hope they would have done well. But we don't know that they would have."The girls' mother attended Tuesday's sentencing but she did not make a statement, Leffler said."I know the girls well enough, though," Leffler said. "I gave them a pretty good speech. The judge took it pretty seriously. He knew this was a serious case."Once he's released from prison, Veliz will be required to register as Tier III sex offender every 90 days for the rest of his life.His crimes came to light in September, after one of the victims confided in a friend, whose mother told the victim's mother about the accusations.