Shalin Ren Payne could aptly be called “the face of evil.” A three-time felon out on parole for a burglary conviction, Payne, 30, pleaded guilty Wednesday to sexually assaulting his fiancée’s 12-year-old daughter in October 2015.
This particular felon would stand out in any line-up — he has a network of dark tattoos all over his face, which resembles a mask straight out of the Mad Max movies.
“The effects of this assault will be with all three members of this family — the victim, her brother, and her mother — for years to come,” said one horrified mom.
It was this frightening face that his young victim no doubt had to see as the assault took place.
It didn’t take long for law enforcement to find the felonious fiancé, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported — his almost-completely tattooed face left the creepy criminal little place to hide.
“Although at first glance it appears stupid for this despicable creature to leave his face uncovered during the assault, it makes sense psychologically,” California clinical psychologist Shoshana Bennett told LifeZette.
She offered a further window into a hardened criminal’s mind: “First, he is obviously proud of his appearance and wants to show it off. Second, as most cowards do, he was probably counting on the intimidation factor that his face could generate.”
Payne chased the girl through her home in Sharpsburg, Georgia, threw her to the floor and attacked her, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Payne created not one victim, but two — the young assault victim’s four-year-old brother was nearby during the attack, authorities said.
When the girl’s mother walked in the door, Payne was on top of her child, officials said. The girl’s mother hit him with some type of bowl, desperate to stop the attack by her own fiancé. Payne punched the mother and ran outside, naked except for a T-shirt, authorities confirmed, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In a negotiated deal, Payne pleaded guilty to rape, aggravated child molestation, aggravated sexual battery, molestation, first-degree child cruelty, sexual exploitation of a child, and aggravated assault, Coweta County Assistant District Attorney Herb Cranford told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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Prosecutors were prepared to go to trial — but accepted the plea deal to avoid putting the victim on the witness stand, Cranford said.
Payne will be eligible for parole again in 30 years. The Georgia Department of Corrections said Payne served two years in prison for the burglary conviction. He also had two other stints in prison for convictions that included aggravated assault, burglary, and theft, The Journal-Constitution reported.
“This is a story that highlights how important it is to actively patrol who you allow around your children, and who you let into your world,” a mother of two, Jean Primm of Columbia, Maryland, told LifeZette. “The effects of that assault will be with all three of the members of that little family — the victim, her brother, and her mother — for years to come.”
This mom added, “His tattoos just add a gruesome and frightening aspect to an already horrific event.”
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