NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A man was convicted on Wednesday of five counts of felony sexual abuse against a child relative in Norfolk.

According to officials, in November of 2021, the victim, who was under the age of 5 at the time of the incident, told school staff about abuse committed by 35-year-old Paul Thomas Cheatham. The abuse was then reported to both Child Protective Services and Norfolk Police.

A forensic interview was then conducted with staff at the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters Child Advocacy Center. Following the interview, officers were able to secure charges against Cheatham for aggravated sexual battery of a child under the age of 13, taking indecent liberties with a child as their custodian, the object sexual penetration of a child under the age of 13 and two counts of sodomy of a child under the age of 13.

Several years later, on Feb. 3, Cheatham pled not guilty to all charges and requested to be tried by a jury. Two days later, after almost two hours of deliberation, a jury found Cheatham guilty on all charges.

“Here in Norfolk, we do not shy away from trying tough cases, and cases involving child sexual assault are among the most difficult cases to prove in criminal law,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “I am grateful to the survivor of Mr. Cheatham’s crimes, to the school and social-services workers who believed her, and to the police who put together an investigation that enabled us to go to a jury and hold Mr. Cheatham accountable. We stand with the survivor, as we do with all victims, and know that she will not permit Mr. Cheatham to define her life or her story.”

Cheatham’s sentencing is scheduled to take place on May 2.