NH man sentenced for raping foster brother, 7

GREENFIELD, Mass. (AP) — A New Hampshire man convicted of sexually assaulting his 7-year-old foster brother while they lived in Massachusetts was sentenced Monday to up to 10 years in prison.

Joshua Matthews, 24, was also sentenced in Greenfield Superior Court to 10 years of probation upon release.

Matthews was convicted in April of two counts of forcible rape of a child, but acquitted of charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Matthews committed the crimes in 2007 while he was 17 or 18 and the victim was living as a foster child in Matthews' home in Athol. Matthews most recently lived in Keene, N.H.

Assistant District Attorney Carrie Russell asked for a sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison, according to The Recorder (http://bit.ly/18VOtsw). There were three aggravating factors in the case, including that the offenses were committed on a child at a vulnerable age, the assaults were repeated, and Matthews was a person in a position of trust as the victim's older brother in the foster family, Russell said.

Matthews' lawyer, Timothy Flynn, said his client maintains his innocence and said the victim was confusing the rapes with the incident that led to his placement in foster care in the first place. Flynn argued for a much lighter sentence.

Cox Media Group