A Douglasville man was sentenced to life in prison, with the first 25 years to be served behind bars, after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting his girlfriend's 10-month-old daughter. Jesse James Hawkins, 22, entered the plea on October 23 to four charges stemming from an investigation that began in March 2025.
Hawkins pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual battery, aggravated battery, first-degree cruelty to children, and second-degree cruelty to children, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. A Paulding County Superior Court judge accepted the negotiated plea agreement, which also carries mandatory sex-offender supervision once Hawkins is eventually released. As reported by Atlanta News First, Hawkins was sentenced to life, with the first 25 years to be served in confinement.
How the Case Came to Light
The infant was taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for emergency medical treatment by her mother, per the district attorney's office's account relayed in the FOX 5 Atlanta report. That hospital visit led to the Paulding County Sheriff's Office launching an investigation in March 2025, the same timeframe confirmed by the station's report. Hawkins was the boyfriend of the child's mother at the time of the assault.
Prosecutors said Hawkins assaulted the infant with an unknown object, according to the FOX 5 Atlanta account of the case.
Prison Term Carries No Early Release
Under Georgia law, Hawkins is required to serve every day of the 25-year confinement term before he becomes eligible for any form of release. Paulding County District Attorney Robert S. Lane praised investigators and prosecutors for securing the sentence, per the FOX 5 Atlanta report.
The case was handled out of the Paulding Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office, with Hawkins's plea and sentencing concluding the proceedings that began with the sheriff's office investigation the previous year. No comparable cases or broader sentencing data were included in the available reporting.
