A Rome man was convicted Wednesday, Feb. 8, of three counts of child molestation in Floyd County Superior Court and sentenced to serve 60 years behind bars.

Bobby Joe Lee, 47, of 1185 Burnett Ferry Road, was arrested a year ago and charged with three counts of child molestation for crimes that occurred between August 2010 and January 2011.

District Attorney Leigh Patterson said Lee was a serial offender who had been arrested previously for touching young girls between the ages of 6 and 12.

He had been tried and acquitted previously because of evidentiary issues, she said, with the first case against Lee taking place in 1989.

Lee was sentenced to 20 years for each count Wednesday by Judge Walter Matthews after two of his previous victims who were not part of the recent charges spoke before the court.

“We all know that child molesters are never rehabilitated,” Patterson said. “This case showed the pattern of behavior of how the children are victimized.”

The case was tried by Assistant District Attorney Kay Ann Wetherington and investigated by Sgt. Terri Davis of the Floyd County Police Department.

“This defendant is truly a predator,” Wetherington said. “I am grateful to the jurors for serving justice so that this victim and the victims in the previous two cases can begin the healing process and put this horrible experience behind them.”