STATESVILLE, N.C. — A former daycare worker will spend the rest of his life in prison for molesting children in his care for years.
Channel 9 was in the courtroom Wednesday when Joshua Young was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to 200 years behind bars -- justice two of his victims have waited two decades for.
Rashonda Durant was 4 years old when she told her mom Young abused her at the Church of Today Daycare between 1994 and 1995. She is now in her 20s.
“I was still a minor. I had my innocence stripped from me. I did not have a choice,” Durant said.
Durant's mother went to the police, but the district attorney did not file charges against Young until 2014, when Jasmine Gray came forward reporting a similar incident during the same time frame.
"It's like he is a monster in a closet," Gray said.
Police reopened Durant's case, and Young was charged with 50 sex crimes.
[ALSO READ: 100+ child sex crime charges being filed against man, woman, Chester police say]
Normally Channel 9 does not reveal the identities of sex crime victims, but Durant and Gray wanted to tell their stories to help others.
"I would just encourage them to talk to somebody," Durant said.
The women are urging anyone who may have been victimized by Young to come forward.
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Cox Media Group