A Selma man pleaded guilty Monday to sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy in June 2015.

District Attorney Michael Jackson said 26-year-old Clemon Bailey was set to go on trial this week but pleaded guilty to first-degree sodomy.

“Sexually abusing kids is a horrible crime,” Jackson said. “We are going to keep shipping these sexual predators off.”

Jackson said Bailey was sentenced to 204 months in prison.

According to court records, Bailey was arrested May 22, 2015. In a previously published Times-Journal report, Lt. Curtis Muhannad, who is no longer with the Selma Police Department, said Bailey was arrested in Marion with help from the Marion Police Department.

He was originally charged with first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree sodomy and enticing a child for immoral purposes.

Bailey’s arrest stemmed from a May 16, 2015, investigation into the sexual abuse of a child.

According to a police report, authorities were notified of the abuse when the victim and Bailey were given a ride by someone to Bailey’s residence. The report states when Bailey got out of the vehicle, the victim started crying and the driver could tell something was wrong.

The victim stayed in the vehicle and told the driver that Bailey sexually abused him. The driver recorded the conversation and took the victim to his parents’ home to inform them about what happened.

The victim’s parents took him to the hospital and reported the rape to police. The victim told police he was staying at Bailey’s house, who according to the report was the victim’s God brother, when the sexual abuse happened. He also stated that he was abused more than once.

According to a Times-Journal report, Sgt. Evelyn Ghant said Bailey knew the child through a church program.

Court records show Bailey was arrested in 2011 for first-degree rape, but Ghant said at the time of his arrest in 2015 the charges had been reduced.