Man sentenced to life in prison for 2012 rape

A 50-year-old man was convicted Wednesday of raping a 17-year-old about four years ago in east Macon.

Judge Howard Simms sentenced Billy Keith Steel Sr. to life in prison without parole to run concurrently with 30 years for other charges.

The female victim, now 21, testified that she was playing hide-and-seek with others on Sept. 9, 2012, when she went into a shed behind a house on Jeffersonville Road. She said Steel grabbed her from behind, pushed her to the ground and forced her to have sex. She also testified that Steel had molested her a few years before, when she was 14.

Medical evidence from the rape kit test showed Steel's DNA in addition to bruises and injuries consistent with recent forcible intercourse. However, Steel's lawyer, Sam Hart Jr., contended on Wednesday that it was possible that the woman, in an attempt to frame Steel, planted his DNA from a used condom that he discarded. Hart argued the woman was mad at Steel for not driving her somewhere earlier that day.

"Could it be such a stretch that this was some twisted way she tried to get back at (him) ... by contaminating herself with his DNA?" Hart asked the jury during closing statements.

Prosecutor Dorothy Hull said it was "an interesting theory" to try to explain the overwhelming evidence against Steel.

"Isn't the more likely explanation ... the same account (the woman) has given for four years?" Hull said. "Why would she do that? Because earlier in the day she wanted go to Sandersville, and he said no?"

Hart said he strongly disagrees with the verdict.

"We look forward to exercising any options and opportunities we have to appeal because we think there are some appealable issues in this case," he said.

Hull said she thinks the sentence is appropriate, "but it still doesn't change what he's done."

In addition to Steel being convicted of two prior felonies, there also was evidence presented during the trial that he had a prior similar incident with a child, Hull said.

To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 or follow her on Twitter @Lauraecor.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 6:30 PM with the headline "Man sentenced to life in prison for 2012 rape ."