SAN ANTONIO (Texas News Radio) — A Round Rock man convicted of kidnapping two girls to Colorado after allegedly killing their mother has been sentenced to life in prison.

A federal judge in Austin sentenced 45-year-old Terry Miles to life imprisonment Tuesday.

Jurors found Miles guilty of two counts of kidnapping, one count of transport a minor with intent to engage in sex with her, and one county of interstate travel with intent to engage in sex with a minor in February.

Investigators believe Miles killed Tonya Bates, the girls’ mother, at the end of 2017 and took them with him to Colorado where he would repeated sexually assault one of the girls.

A multi-state AMBER alert was issued while police looked for them.  They were found a few days later in Colorado.

“Today, justice was delivered to Terry Miles for his despicable crimes against children.  Unfortunately, this is only one particularly high-profile example of the sort of abuse happening in every community across our country.  It won’t stop until policymakers at all levels prioritize child safety,” U.S. Attorney John Bash stated.

“Round Rock is a safer place with Terry Miles scheduled to serve a well-deserved, lengthy prison sentence.  While it won’t reverse the harm done to these girls, it will allow them to continue the healing process without fear.  This would not have been possible without the collaboration of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, the Round Rock Police Department, and other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies,” said Round Rock police chief Allen Banks.

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