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Kansas killer-turned-babysitter sentenced for sex crimes against child in his care

A convicted murderer who pleaded guilty in March to committing sex crimes against a young girl he once babysat has been ordered to serve 21 years, 1 month in prison.

Clifford Eugene Cox, who served part of a life sentence for the 1984 strangulation death of 23-year-old Cathryn Kessinger of Winfield, abused the girl repeatedly from 2016 to 2018, until she was 8, her father previously told The Eagle. The father at the time said he had no idea Cox had killed Kessinger — in part due to a lack of available information about his crime online — and only knew Cox by a nickname, Ziggy. The girl’s mother had hired him, he said.

The girl’s mother removed her and her siblings from Cox’s care after he allegedly left them outside in the heat with no water. After that, the girl revealed the sexual abuse to a relative, who told her father.

The father called police immediately, he said in The Eagle interview. Wichita police announced Cox’s arrest in August 2018.

In a police interview, Cox admitted to molesting the girl but blamed her, saying she had been “flirtatious,” “sexually aggressive” and “took advantage of him,” according to a probable cause affidavit released in the case.

Cox, 60, of Wichita, was originally charged with 13 counts, including rape of a child, criminal sodomy and aggravated indecent liberties with a child. He pleaded guilty on March 20 to aggravated kidnapping and three counts of aggravated indecent solicitation of a child, court records show.

The sentence, imposed Wednesday by Sedgwick County District Judge David Dahl, follows the plea agreement negotiated by lawyers, said Dan Dillon, a spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.

Cox will be subject to lifetime post-release supervision, Dillon said.