On June 6, former Aberdeen City Councilor Riley T. Carter was convicted of three counts of rape of a child in the first degree, three counts of incest in the first degree, one count of child molestation in the first degree, and one count of incest in the second degree, by a jury of his peers in Grays Harbor County Superior Court.

On July 11, Carter was sentenced to a minimum of 46½ years in prison.

A lone person sat on Carter’s side of Grays Harbor County Superior Court Judge Katherine L. Svoboda’s courtroom, while the gallery on the prosecution’s side was filled with family, supporters and advocates for the victim and her mother.

Carter’s defense attorney Karrie Young asked Judge Svoboda to enter a mitigation report that wouldn’t be complete until tomorrow into the record. Young then indicated that the prosecution’s sentencing recommendation wasn’t received until after 6 p.m. last night, and disagreed with the possibility of an “exceptional sentence” outside the standard range.

Svoboda said the court would follow Washington state sentencing guidelines and added, “The court is not bound by anyone’s recommendations.”

Prior to sentencing, Grays Harbor County Criminal Chief Deputy Prosecutor Daniel Crawford deferred to the victim, her mother and anyone else who wished to give a statement.

Mya Hernandez read her daughter’s statement to the court. It read, in part, “I felt betrayed, very betrayed by someone who was meant to keep me safe and happy, but I did not feel that. … I want Riley to be gone forever. I want him to be stuck in one loop, like how I was, and I want him to be in a bad place — like how he put me in a horrible place.”

Hernandez also read a prepared statement from the victim’s biological father that read, in part, “She is the bravest girl I know,” and went on to describe how Carter had betrayed his responsibilities as a step-father.

Hernandez read from her prepared four-page statement, that read, in part, “This isn’t just about abuse. This is about betrayal that carved through the bones of my family. This is about a man who didn’t just break trust — he broke us. He didn’t just lie, he ‘performed.’ To the world. He was a councilman. A hero. A ‘protector of children against predators.’ But in our home he was the danger. … Riley is vile. He confessed — then took it back — and forced a little girl he broke to take the stand and relive every sick thing he did to her. … He is not safe. He is not sorry. And he does not deserve leniency.”

The victim, who was present via Zoom, chose not to speak.

Crawford then made his case and sentencing recommendation. He asked for “top of range” for every count.

“There is zero question that Carter did these acts, he confessed,” Crawford said. “(Then) he tried to convince people he was the victim in this case. He tried to fool the court. He also tried to fool a jury and he tried to fool the community. … He raped his step-daughter for the better part of two years. … Mr. Carter is who he is.”

Young was offered the opportunity to speak on her client’s behalf. She said Carter maintains he was wrongfully accused and decried the fact a request of change of venue was denied and intimated the jury may not have been impartial due to the social and legacy media attention the case garnered. Young also said Carter should have the opportunity to rehabilitate and improve himself, that the punishment should be appropriate to the severity of the crimes and the sentence should be similar to other such cases, and run concurrently, not consecutively.

Carter, dressed in an orange Grays Harbor County Jail jumpsuit, was stoic throughout the proceedings only breaking to speak with his defense team.

When he was allowed to address the court, he said with indignation that evidence in his defense was not allowed to be presented at trial, that he felt compelled to lie and make things up and that he did not understand the severity of the accusations against him, accused detectives of coercion, and lobbed disparaging remarks at the victim’s mother, calling Hernandez his “mentally disturbed wife.”

After quoting constitutional rights, Carter said he was going to prison “wrongfully accused and wrongfully convicted.”

Judge Svoboda took exception to the comments about the possibility of jury bias and defended the jury selection process and the empaneled jury that decided the case.

Svoboda said the interrogation by police detectives should be held up as an example of what such interrogations should be. She added Carter’s statements were not credible and that although he has a right to proclaim his innocence, “that ship has sailed … there is overwhelming evidence of your guilt.”

After handing down what amounts to a 46½-year prison sentence which includes a lifetime no contact order between Carter and the victim, and a no contact order between Carter and his biological children until they turn 18, Svoboda said, “An untreated sex offender in the community is dangerous.”

“They had it right with what was recommended,” Hernandez said. “And the judge said no matter what they sentenced it wasn’t going to be enough. He’s getting 46 to life. Good. Make every day count.”

Carter, who was known for wearing a red ballcap that read “Make Pedophiles Afraid Again,” was arrested by the Aberdeen Police Department in late July 2024 and subsequently forced to resign his post as an Aberdeen City Councilor for Ward 5 a few days after his arrest. He was convicted on all eight counts back on June 6.

“Justice was for most part served today, he’ll be well into his 80s before he’s allowed to seek release from prison, so the community is safer, hopefully the victim in this case can start to heal,” Crawford said. “He’s been sentenced to about 46 and a half years, and then he gets to start asking for permission for release based on what he does while in prison. That puts him at about 86 years old.”

It was noted by several people in attendance that Carter did not say one word about the victim and that he did not admit responsibility or show remorse during today’s sentencing hearing.

“He has no concern about the victim. He cares about one person and one person only,” Crawford said.