Dad pleads guily to killing daughter abuser to spare her from reliving nightmare at trial

An Alabama father who shot and killed his daughter's sexual abuser pleaded guilty Monday and accepted a 40-year prison sentence in the hopes of sparing his daughter from having to relive the experience through a lengthy trial.

The man, 43, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the June 2014 killing of 59-year-old Raymond Earl Brooks. Brooks was a registered sex offender who was shot to death at his home in rural Cullman County, north of Birmingham.

Brooks pleaded guilty in 2002 to sexually abusing the man's young daughter. He served 27 months of a five-year sentence and paid restitution.

Authorities say the father shot at a man who had been dating his stepdaughter, but the man was able to hide inside a convenience store. The father then drove to Brooks' home, where he killed him. The man was also sentenced to 20 years in prison for the first shooting.

The Associated Press typically does not name victims of sexual assault and is not using the father's name to protect his daughter's identity.