Davila sentenced to life in prison

By Staff
Jason Houston FCT Managing Editor
Elias Davila, convicted of rape and sexual abuse in a trial last December, was sentenced Thursday in circuit court to life in prison, Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing said.
The 55-year-old Davila, of Russellville, was arrested in January 2004 and charged with first-degree sexual abuse against a female juvenile.
In March 2004, a grand jury returned an indictment for the abuse charge and also for first-degree rape. Davila was convicted last December of both charges.
Rushing said Davila, speaking through an interpreter, asked God and his family to forgive him after he was sentenced.
Davila was sentenced to 10 years on the sexual abuse charge, to run concurrently with the life sentence.
Davila, who had also used the false name of Eliseo Sicillao, had been in Russellville about a year prior to his arrest. He moved to the area from El Salvador, where he served as a preacher, according to statements given to law enforcement.
He confessed to the charges at the time of his arrest but consistently denied that a rape occurred.
Rushing said Davila was convicted of grabbing the victim in a bathroom and raping her.