A Clermont man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for committing sex crimes against children. Upon his release, Matthew Isaiah McDowell will spend the rest of his life on probation, according to court officials.
Mountain Judicial Circuit Court Judge Chan Caudell sentenced the 44-year-old McDowell on March 28 after he pled guilty to aggravated sodomy and child molestation. The victim was under the age of 10, according to the indictment.
McDowell is to serve 25 years in prison, followed by probation for life on the sodomy charge. The judge sentenced him to 20 years probation on the child molestation count.
Habersham County authorities arrested McDowell at his former residence in Demorest in July 2022. Investigators initially charged him with six counts, three for each offense.
Assistant Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Meredith Davis prosecuted the case.
