The charges were brought in connection with more than 2 years of sexual abuse that Matthews perpetrated upon a then 7-year-old child.
GREENFIELD — Joshua Matthews, 24, formerly of Athol and most recently of Keene, N.H., was sentenced in Franklin Superior Court on Monday to seven to 10 years in state prison to be followed by 10 years of probation after having been convicted by a Franklin County jury in April on two counts of forcible rape of a child.
Matthews will be subject to GPS tracking during his probation.
The charges were brought in connection with more than two years of sexual abuse that Matthews perpetrated upon a then 7-year-old child.
The victim, now 14, testified about the abuses he suffered.
Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Carrie Russell, who prosecuted the case, said, “We are hopeful that today’s sentencing can bring some measure of closure to the young victim as he continues on his pathway to healing.”
Russell had recommended a 15-20 year sentence. The defense requested incarceration in a House of Corrections and a probationary term.