A Pearl River County resident was sentenced last week for fondling a vulnerable person.

Brandon Rawlings, 26, was sentenced by Pearl River County Circuit Court Judge Anthony Mozingo to serve a maximum 15 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, said a press release from the Attorney General’s office.

According to court documents, Rawlings was indicted for sexual battery of a vulnerable person by a health care employee and fondling of vulnerable person by a health care employee on June 17, 2011.

According to the indictment, Rawlings was alleged to have fondled a vulnerable person “on or about” July 18, 2010.

According the Attorney General’s press release, at the time the crime was committed Rawlings was employed as a direct care worker for Magnolia Personal Care Home in Picayune.

Rawlings was found guilty by a jury of his peers on April 8 for fondling a 72-year-old patient for the purpose of gratifying his lust, stated the press release.

The patient was a resident of the Magnolia Personal Care Home and was in “a position of trust or authority over the victim,” stated the indictment.

“This office will keep working relentlessly to catch and put behind bars those who are mistreating our most vulnerable residents,” said Attorney General Jim Hood in the press release.