MADISON COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – A 27-year-old Canton man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to having sex with underage girls.

Madison and Rankin Counties’ District Attorney Bubba Bramlett said Bruce Jermal Thompson was sentenced to serve 20 years in the custody of Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) without the possibility of early release or parole.

In February 2019, the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) reported to Canton police that a 15-year-old girl miscarried while at the hospital. Police investigated the incident, and DNA testing confirmed Thompson was the father of the child. He was 22-years-old at the time the infant was conceived, and the victim would have been 14.

Prior to the indictment, officers received a complaint from another juvenile’s mother that Thompson had been having sex with her child since the child was 12-years-old.

Canton police discovered explicit text messages between Thompson and the underage female, indicating that he had been engaging in sexual acts with the child since 2021.

Thompson pled guilty in both cases. Once he’s released from prison, he will be required to register and report as a sex offender for the rest of his life.