Although she continued to proclaim she was innocent of the charges, a Miami judge sentenced 67-year-old Geralyn Graham, to 55 years in the death of missing foster child Rilya Wilson, on Tuesday.
Graham was convicted by a jury last week on kidnapping, 2 counts of aggravated child abuse and one count of child abuse. She once cared for Rilya in a Miami-area foster home, before the child vanished in December 2000. The Department of Children and Families case worker failed to notice the child was missing until 15 months after she disappeared.
According to news reports, prosecutors believe Graham smothered Rilya, with a pillow, disposed of her body near water in South Miami-Dade, then lied for over a decade about what happened to the child.
Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez who imposed the 55-year sentence on Graham said, the evidence showed that 4-year-old Rilya was subjected to “senseless, cruel and inhuman acts” at the hands of Graham, The Palm Beach Post reported.
“One can only be inherently evil to inflict that type of pain and torment on an innocent child,” the judge said.
Assistant State Attorney Sally Weintraub said Rilya went from an initial loving foster home to an “abyss” with Graham that kept the child in terror during the final months of her short life, the paper also reported.
“We trust that with this sentencing there will be some measure of satisfaction to those people who loved Rilya and cared about her,” Weintraub said.
