A visit to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune ended in a federal conviction after jurors found that 41-year-old David Leonard Mayes raped a 9-year-old, nonverbal child with severe autism inside her bedroom. A federal jury on Thursday convicted Mayes of aggravated sexual abuse after the girl's mother came home early, opened her daughter's closed bedroom door and, according to authorities, caught him in the act. He now faces a mandatory minimum of 30 years in federal prison and could receive life at sentencing.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, investigators found a tub of petroleum jelly in the child's room bearing Mayes's fingerprint, and forensic testing detected the victim's DNA on his genitals. U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle did not mince words, calling Mayes "this monster" who "preyed on the most vulnerable nine-year-old imaginable." The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) led the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen Haughton and Ashley Foxx prosecuted the case.
How Investigators Built The Case
Prosecutors walked jurors through a timeline that started with the mother returning home unexpectedly and finding her daughter's bedroom door closed, then opening it and seeing what was happening, as reported by WITN. They then tied Mayes to the assault with the petroleum jelly container carrying his fingerprint and with DNA evidence linking the child to his genitals. Local outlets that carried the federal release said jurors also heard family members recount the moment the mother opened the door. Taken together, the evidence persuaded the jury to return a guilty verdict on the aggravated sexual abuse charge.
Prosecution And What Comes Next
U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III accepted the verdict, which is listed in federal court records as Case No. 7:22-CR-74. Mayes faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years and up to life in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office release. Prosecutors have said they will seek a sentence that protects children and the broader military community. The court will set a sentencing date, and once judgment and sentence are entered, Mayes will have the opportunity to appeal.
Resources For Survivors
Stories like this can be incredibly difficult to read. Confidential help is available through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at RAINN (1-800-656-HOPE / 4673), as well as through local victim assistance programs. In an emergency, call 911. Tips or evidence involving crimes on Navy or Marine installations can be reported to NCIS or the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The conviction has echoed through both the military and civilian communities around Camp Lejeune, where officials repeatedly stress that protecting service members and their families is a top priority. NCIS Special Agent in Charge Kelly Parrish, in the federal announcement, emphasized investigators' commitment to safeguarding Navy and Marine families, a point that local coverage picked up as well. WITN reported the agency's statement alongside the U.S. Attorney's remarks.
