Convicted child abuser gets life in prison for filming baby struggling in plastic bag

Published 10:43 pm Monday, June 21, 2021

A Mississippi man will spend the rest of his life in prison after he was found guilty of child abuse following a three-day trial.

Ninth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Ricky Smith said Circuit Judge Toni Walker Terrett sentenced Raymond Friley, 54, immediately after the verdict at the trial’s conclusion Wednesday.

Friley was indicted on the abuse charge in August 2019. The indictment was the result of a probe by sheriff’s investigators into a complaint filed against Friley in June 2019. The investigation indicated the reported abuse happened in 2017 and involved a child under the age of 2. Friley had remained in jail since his arrest.

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Smith said the child was placed in a plastic bag and filmed.

“Luckily, he didn’t hurt the kid but you could see the baby gasping and trying to breathe,” Smith said.