The conviction and life sentence for a Jennings man found guilty in the rape of a 10-year-old girl has been upheld by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal.

Jason Ray Craft, 41, was found guilty of first-degree rape of a juvenile under the age of 13 in February 2022

Craft was identified by the juvenile victim.

The girl told her mother and investigators Craft had sexually abused her after pulling her pants and underwear down on at least two occasions inside her home during the summer of 2019. The victim said she was scared and pretended to be asleep because she did not know what to do.

Craft was indicted on first-degree rape in August 2019. He was found guilty by a jury in January 2022 and sentenced to life in prison without benefit of probation, parole and suspension of sentence.

Craft later appealed to the 3rd Circuit Court, citing problems with evidence including insufficient evidence, as well as untimely disclosure of evidence, including DNA crime lab evidence and information from the victim’s cell phone.

He also claimed the trial court repeatedly erred in allowing expert reports of state witnesses to be admitted into evidence after the experts testified during trial and that the trial court improperly determined he had the mental capacity to proceed to trial.

He further argued the trial court improperly allowed the state to amend the bill of indictment once trial started and erred by denying a motion of mistrial and that the line of questions about the victim’s statements to her friends about sex should not have been excluded.

The appeal court disagreed with Craft’s claims, saying they lacked merit and upheld the conviction.