American paedophile sentenced to record 438 YEARS in prison for abusing six children

Dan McDonald
Wed, 15 Apr 2026 04:22:49 +0000

An American paedophile has been sentenced to a record 438 years in prison for abusing six children over more than a decade.

Matthew Cody Ball, 36, was convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a child, nine counts of rape of a child, aggravated sexual battery, rape, and statutory rape by an authority figure.

His youngest victim is believed to have been just four years old.

Prosecutors said Ball’s abuse began in 2011, targeting children in Texas and Tennessee.

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The 36-year-old was tried in Sumner County, Tennessee, and was sentenced without the possibility of parole -meaning he will only leave prison in a coffin.

After the sentence was passed, District Attorney Thomas Dean confirmed it was "the longest, short of life without parole, which has been imposed in a child sexual abuse case in Sumner County history".

Mr Dean said Ball could not be given the death penalty or an official life sentence because “the time frame during which his offenses were committed".

The paedophile was finally arrested in 2024 after he inappropriately touched a 10-year-old girl, who later reported him to the authorities.

Mr Dean wrote on social media: “During a forensic interview … the victim gave a graphic disclosure of sexual abuse carried out against her by Ball over a 6 year period, beginning when she was just 4 years old."

After the 36-year-old was arrested, five more victims came forward with allegations of sexual abuse against him.

“The victims disclosed rape and molestation taking place as far back as 2011 in Davidson, Dickson, and Sumner Counties as well as Texas,” Mr Dean said.

Before the guilty verdict was delivered, a jury deliberated for just 20 minutes.

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After he was convicted, the District Attorney released a statement, which read: "Matthew Cody Ball’s conduct in this case was disgusting and outrageous.

"He caused immeasurable damage to these victims and the effects of his actions will continue to reverberate through their lives for years to come."

Mr Dean vowed to "continue to aggressively prosecute those who harm children".

He added: “This defendant could not have been brought to justice without the bravery of these victims, excellent investigative work of the Hendersonville Police Department, and crucial evidence gathered by Ashley’s Place, Our Kids Clinic, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s crime laboratory.

"I am also grateful for the efforts of Assistant District Attorneys Nathan Nichols and Parker Sewell, who fought hard to achieve justice in this case alongside Victim Witness Coordinators Jennifer Woodard and Sally Ann Pirtle, who provided valuable support to the prosecutors, victims, and their families."

Although he was ordered to spend more than half a millennium behind bars, it is not the longest sentence handed down in US history.

The longest sentence was issued in 1994, when Charles Scott Robinson was given a 30,000-year term by Judge Dan Owens in Oklahoma.

Robinson was ordered to serve six consecutive sentences of 5,000 years after sexually abusing a three-year-old girl.