Brewton man guilty of sodomy

A Brewton man faces a possible prison sentence of life without the possibility of parole after an Escambia County jury found him guilty of sodomy I and sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old for molesting a 4-year old girl.

Christopher Lance Burtram, 34, whose last known address was listed as 865 Travis Road, showed little or no emotion when the jury returned its verdict last Thursday. After several days of testimony, the jury deliberated about three hours before retuning the verdict.

Burtram was arrested in May, 2015 and has remained incarcerated in the Escambia County Detention Center since that time.

Burtram was accused of digitally penetrating the vagina of the young girl and performing anal sex on the child.

During closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Todd Stearns told members of the jury to use their common sense in rendering a verdict.

He said it came down to believing Burtram over the victim and other specialists that included Dr. Marsha Raulerson and Stephanie Myrick of the child advocacy center and others, who testified the young girl had been sexually abused.

Stearns said the sex abuse charge carries a minimum 10-year prison sentence, but noted the sodomy conviction of a person more than 21 years old sodomizing a child under the age of 6 carries a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Stearns noted the victim was victim was 4-years old at the time of the incident.

Circuit Judge Dave Jordan ordered a pre-sentence report and has scheduled a sentencing hearing on Burtram for 9 a.m. on Sept. 4.