RANKIN COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – A 26-year-old man was sentenced to 45 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) for the sexual abuse of a child.

In April 2025, a Rankin County jury found James Matthew Gardner guilty of statutory rape and gratification of lust of a child. Madison and Rankin Counties’ District Attorney Bubba Bramlett said Gardner will serve every day of the 45 years in prison, without the possibly of parole or early release.

On September 19, 2023, Rankin County deputies received a call to a home regarding a juvenile sexual assault victim. They said the abuse took place at the victim’s home, where Gardner was living at the time of the abuse.

Law enforcement interviewed Gardner and others, executed search warrants for electronics, the defendant’s home, and the defendant’s vehicle, and took photographs. Additionally, law enforcement retrieved physical evidence from the house that the victim shared with the defendant. Bramlett said physical evidence was sent to the Mississippi Forensics Lab for processing and testing.

The jury heard from the victim, the victim’s sibling, two investigators with the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office, a nurse practitioner from the Children’s Safe Center who examined the victim, and two forensic scientists with the Mississippi Forensics Lab. Bramlett said Gardner testified on his own behalf.