PALATKA, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) -
A former firefighter from Putnam County was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for molesting a young girl for two years.
A jury found Mark Brian Fowler, who turned 42 the day of his sentencing, guilty in November of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child less than 12 years old.
Fowler, of Palatka, molested the girl from the age of 9 until she was 11. The girl wrote a statement read at the sentencing hearing about how the sexual abuse has devastated her life.
Jacksonville.com reports that Fowler apologized to the girl's mother in an email and that "temptation showed itself and the devil pushed the buttons, and I fell in."
