Mackenzie A. Lottinville

A 19-year-old Lawrence man was sentenced Friday to almost 13 years in prison for raping a child.

Douglas County District Judge Paula Martin handed down the sentence — the average in such cases — to Mackenzie “Mac” Andrew Lottinville after Lottinville pleaded guilty in June to one count of raping a child under the age of 14 in October 2013.

Lottinville’s attorney, Adam Hall, argued for the lesser sentence of 147 months, claiming Lottinville suffered from depression and “pervasive loneliness” at that time of the crime and that Lottinville considered the victim, who was 13, to be his peer.

“There was only one provable incidence where there was sexual contact made,” Hall told the court. “The statute equally punishes a 55-year-old and a 3-year-old as it does with the defendant in this specific case.”

Before the sentencing Lottinville’s mother, Lynette Lottinville, said she was hoping for mercy in her son’s case.

“They were both teenagers,” she said, “and still are. People make mistakes.”

Mackenzie Lottinville made an emotional plea to Martin for a lesser sentence.

“I swear on my life this was a consensual event, even if the law says different,” Mackenzie Lottinville said. “My nieces call me ‘crazy Uncle Mac.’ I prefer that much more to ‘criminal Uncle Mac.'”

Assistant District Attorney Mark Simpson argued for the average sentence of 155 months, or nearly 13 years, because of the nature of the crime. Simpson said the victim did not have a father and her mother did not take care of her.

“When he met her she needed a place to stay because she had nowhere else to go, so he snuck her into his trailer,” Simpson said. “She told police she felt pressured. He took advantage of a child for his own sexual gratification.”

After Mackenzie Lotttinville completes his sentence, he will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and will have lifetime post-release supervision. Lottinville has been in the Douglas County Jail for 178 days since his arrest, which will count toward his time served.