Thomas William Krems, 22, was sentenced in Stafford Circuit Court to a total of 50 years in prison, with all but seven years and two months suspended.

He was convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual battery and three counts of taking indecent liberties with a child. The offense date on all of the indictments is Aug. 1, 2006.

In return for Krems' guilty pleas, prosecutor Eric Olsen dropped a number of other charges.

According to the evidence, Krems was active in the Boy Scouts and had achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He was a 19-year-old leader in the troop that the victim joined.

The victim and his family grew to like Krems, and offered him a place to live after learning that Krems' family was leaving the Stafford area. The victim was 13 at the time.

Krems lived with the family for 11 months. The victim's father testified that the family trusted Krems and suspected nothing.

Concerns arose, the victim's parents said, when family members started noticing drastic changes in the boy's demeanor. The boy also started cutting himself.

The self-mutilation led the parents to seek counseling for the child. During an early session, details about what had been going on with Krems came to light.

Krems, meanwhile, had moved to Atlanta to take a job with the Boy Scouts of America. When he returned to the area for a visit last year, the father got a taped admission regarding his activities with the boy.

The father said that in recalling one of the incidents, Krems found it amusing that the boy's parents were attending a seminar about child sexual abuse at the same time Krems was molesting their son.

The father yesterday testified that Krems' offenses have had a "devastating" impact on the boy, now 16, and the family.

"He betrayed our trust. We've been absolutely miserable since learning of these crimes," the father said.

Before being sentenced, Krems apologized for his actions and vowed to become a productive member of society one day.

"I never meant for this to happen," Krems said.

Source: Fredricksburg.com