Serial child molester sentenced to life without parole

Serial child molester, Michael Shane Kilgore, will never know freedom again after he was sentenced in Cobb County last week for molesting a 6-year-old in 2015.

Chief Judge Robert Leonard handed Kilgore, 49, a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentence follows Kilgore’s conviction in September for aggravated sexual battery, child molestation, and cruelty to children in the first degree. Said Judge Leonard during Kilgore’s sentencing, “I don’t expect that you will ever take a breath in the free world again.”

A 9-year-old girl told her mother in 2018 that Kilgore had molested her. The mother reported the allegations to Cobb police. 

Kilgore had previously served three terms in prison for child molestation prior to this conviction. He repeatedly denied abusing the victim, yet pleaded guilty in 1998 to child molestation, according to the DA’s office. During this trial, five victims of Kilgore testified about his pattern of molestation.

The GBI says Kilgore has been on the state’s sex offender registry since 2002. The Georgia Department of Corrections tracks Kilgore as having served prison time for child molestation from September 1990 to October 2002; September 2003 to January 2004; and March 2005 to August 2009.

Assistant Cobb DA David Bailey said, “Kilgore is a serial child molester who terrorized multiple victims over multiple decades. I am thankful for the jury and all who made sacrifices so this predator would never have access to a child again.”

Following his sentencing, Kilgore was transferred to his final home, prison.