A husband and wife from the Mississippi coast have each been sentenced to 40 years in prison without parole after pleading guilty to numerous charges stemming from their sexual abuse of a girl, beginning when she was four years old and continuing until she was 12.

Robert James Bayliss Sr. and Christina Marie Bayliss, both 35, were sentenced Wednesday by Jackson County (Miss.) Circuit Court Judge Keith Miller. Each had pleaded guilty to felony charges of sexual battery, touching of a child for lustful purposes, exploitation of a child, and conspiracy to commit those crimes, according to the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office.

A third defendant, Travis Wade, pleaded guilty Monday and will be sentenced March 14.

The three co-conspirators were arrested in June 2022 after the abuse was reported to the Mississippi Department of Child Protective Services.

The victim was 14 when she came forward to report the abuse and said the acts would take place at residences in both Biloxi and St. Martin, an unincorporated community north of Ocean Springs.

A search warrant was executed at the St. Martin home belonging to Wade, where evidence corroborating the victim’s statements was located. Initially, Robert and Christina Bayliss were charged with one count of sexual battery and one count of possessing child pornography, while Wade was charged with two counts of child pornography.

Once investigators uncovered additional evidence, however, a grand jury indicted the three suspects on additional charges.

The district attorney’s office said the three co-conspirators would document their abuse of the girl in journals which were seized by investigators during the execution search warrants.

District attorney Angel Myers McIlrath didn’t mince words after Wednesday’s sentencing.

“These defendants are the epitome of evil,” sh said. “For years, they used this child for sex and exploited her by capturing some of their heinous sexual acts against her in photographs. Despite all that this victim has gone through, she demonstrated extraordinary grace and strength in facing and forgiving her abusers.

“My staff and I will continue to prosecute child predators to the fullest extent of the law. There is no place for this evil in our community.”