Millsboro man receives 13-year sentence for child sex abuse charges

A Millsboro man was sentenced to 13 years in prison June 14, after previously pleading guilty to charges of continuous sexual abuse and second-degree sexual abuse of a child by a person of trust in March.

Ryan Conner, 33, told a Delaware Superior Court judge at sentencing that he was ashamed of his actions and accepted responsibility for what he had done. 

“No apology will ever make anything right with the victim,” he said.

Upon Conner’s arrest in June 2023, police suspected he had been abusing and grooming a child since 2020. According to court testimony, Conner told the child that what was happening was his fault and to keep what was happening quiet. The victim's mother became aware of what was happening after it was discovered that the child, now a teenager, had begun drinking to cope with the abuse he had suffered. 

Judge Rob Robinson told Conner at sentencing, “You did an incredible amount of damage. And you did it over and over again.”

Conner, wearing glasses with closely cropped hair and clad in a white Department of Correction jumpsuit, was flanked by his attorney, Stephen Smith. 

With his client facing a sentencing range of two to 25 years in prison, Smith argued for a sentence between two to six years. He said Conner is not a high-risk offender, had no past criminal history, is a former serviceman, has expressed remorse and is seeking treatment. Smith said Conner is the classic case of someone who was abused as a child and ended up falling into a cycle of abuse himself. He said Conner cooperated with police and confessed to the crime.  

Deputy Attorney General Mary Batten said Conner’s abuse escalated over time and asked for at least a 10-year sentence.

Robinson opined that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances and gave a longer sentence.

“You ruined this person’s life,” he told Conner.