In October of 2005 Kennard Lane, of Dover, was charged with 33 sexual crimes involving his daughters.
Three months later on January 24, 2006, Lane pled guilty to one count of rape in the 1st Degree by a Person of Trust and the State dismissed the 2 remaining charges of the indictment.
Less than a month later, on February 6, 2006, Lane once again pled guilty to an additional count of first-degree rape and the State dismissed the twenty-nine remaining counts of that indictment. The victims in each case were Lane’s daughters.
Prior to sentencing, Lane tried to withdraw his guilty plea, however, [ms-protect-content id=”35525,36371,36374,36464,36481″]a Superior Court judge denied the request at a hearing held on April 28, 2006. The court found that Lane had entered his guilty plea knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily. Lane was sentenced on both charges to a total of eighty years in prison, to be suspended after serving forty years.
Lane later filed an appeal on April 20, 2009, alleging that he pled guilty due to ineffective assistance of counsel, the trial judge exceeded the sentencing recommendations, and there was exculpatory evidence that the prosecutor did not disclose until Lane entered his plea. His appeal was denied.
Earlier this month on Friday, April 19, 2019, Lane, now 70-year-old and an inmate housed at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna died.
Officials said that he died shortly after 7:00 in the evening and that foul play was not suspected.
Lane’s body was turned over to the State Division of Forensic Science, as is standard procedure.[/ms-protect-content]