Child Rapist Sentenced to Sixty Years in Prison

DA Charme Allen announces that prosecutors in the Child Abuse Unit obtained a sixty-year sentence against a man who raped a five-year-old child multiple times.  Kenneth Tate Eastman, II, 38, was convicted of four counts of Rape of a Child, Sexual Activity Involving a Minor, and Aggravated Sexual Battery.  At a sentencing hearing today, Judge Hector Sanchez sentenced Eastman to serve sixty years in the Tennessee Department of Correction without the possibility of parole.

In a two-day trial in April, Assistant District Attorneys Heather Good and Amelia Hamilton explained to the jury that four years ago, when the victim was five years old, Eastman was dating the victim’s mother.  When Eastman was alone with the victim, he began grooming the five-year-old by showing her pornographic videos.  Eastman then raped the victim several times over the course of a few months.  He threatened to hurt the child if she ever told anyone about the abuse.  In December of 2020, the victim told her kindergarten teacher that she was afraid to go home because of Eastman’s assaultive behavior toward her mother.  Knoxville Police Department Detective Patti Tipton gathered evidence and brought the victim to a forensic interview at Childhelp where she provided a detailed statement of the abuse.

“This defendant will never again be able to harm another child because of the lengthy sentence in this case,” said DA Allen.

Eastman has a prior felony conviction for Aggravated Assault.  Assistant Victim Witness Coordinator Lauren Ward aided in the prosecution of this case.

If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.