Rocky Point man pleads guilty to statutory rape

BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — A Pender County man pled guilty this week to one count of Statutory Rape.

36-year-old Lewis William Willoughby, Sr. of Rocky Point was arrested in April on child sex charges.

Willoughby admitted that he committed numerous sexual acts against the 14-year-old female victim over the course of a month, including statutory rape.

Willoughby was sentenced to 20 to 29 years in the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections by the Honorable Judge Joshua Willey.

The District Attorney’s Office says once he is released he will be placed on supervision for five years and must register as a sex offender for 30 years.

The hard work of the Detective Stephen Clinard of the Pender County Sheriff’s Office was instrumental in obtaining the guilty plea from this defendant. Assistant District Attorney Jason Smith handled the case for the State.