Ex-Long Beach officer gets 24 years for statutory rape
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) – A former Long Beach police officer has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for the statutory rape of his teenage girlfriend.
The Sun Herald reports Circuit Judge Chris Schmidt also ordered 45-year-old Patrick Klis to serve six years of supervised probation and register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Before handing down the sentence Thursday, Schmidt said the evidence shows Klis “was grooming the girl for the ultimate trophy.”
Klis admitted he began a relationship with the girl when she was 14 and had sex with her on her 15th birthday.
Klis is a retired Seabee with six combat tours in Iraq and had been on the police force for 6½ years before his arrest last April.
