He faced prison but got probation. Now he’s accused of raping an 85-year-old woman.

The man accused of “brutally” beating and raping an 85-year-old woman in her home last week previously had faced up to 20 years in prison on an aggravated domestic violence charge but instead received probation, according to law enforcement records.

Marquille Rondale Livingston, 36, is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree burglary, kidnapping and larceny in connection with the Feb. 14 home invasion in Columbia, according to sheriff’s officials. He remains jailed without bond Monday.

Richland County deputies say Livingston forced his way into a home on Brighton Hill Road in the early-morning hours, then beat and repeatedly sexually assaulted the 85-year-old victim. He is accused of taking cash and the victim’s watch when he left.

The victim’s son came to the home to check on her and called 911 around 5:30 a.m., according to Lt. Curtis Wilson, spokesman for the sheriff’s department.

Investigators determined the intruder forced his way into the home through the front door, Wilson said.

“He could have been in there possibly for an hour or just over an hour,” Wilson said of Livingston.

The woman tried to use her medical alert bracelet to call for help, but when an agent with the alert company answered, Livingston “took over the conversation and told them everything was fine,” the sheriff’s department has said.

Livingston has an adult criminal record that begins with a July 2000 arrest by Forest Acres police on charges of indecent exposure, simple assault and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to State Law Enforcement Division records. The assault charge was dropped, and Livingston, who was 19 at the time, was sentenced to three years in prison suspended to five years probation on the remaining charges.

It was unclear what prior charge categorized Livingston as a felon at the time.

Livingston pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree burglary in 2004 and was sentenced under the state’s Youthful Offender Act to no more than five years in prison, according to Richland County court records.

In 2005, he pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree burglary and received a 15-year sentence suspended to three years with credit for the year he had already served in jail, court records show.

A December 2009 arrest by Lexington County deputies for indecent exposure was later dismissed, according to SLED.

In September 2013, Livingston was arrested by Richland County deputies on a charge of criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature, SLED records show.

Details about that 2013 incident were not available Monday.

The most severe of South Carolina’s domestic violence offenses, the charge is a felony that carries up to 20 years in prison. Livingston pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and battery, which is a misdemeanor, and was sentenced in June 2014 to two years in prison suspended to one year probation, along with mental health counseling.

A series of misdemeanor charges pepper Livingston’s criminal record.

If convicted on the first-degree burglary charge from last week’s home invasion, Livingston faces up to life in prison. First-degree criminal sexual conduct carries up to 30 years, under South Carolina law.

Wilson said it’s possible there are additional victims. Anyone who suspects they have been a victim is asked to call law enforcement or Crimestoppers at 888-CRIME-SC.

This story was originally published February 19, 2018 at 3:02 PM with the headline "He faced prison but got probation. Now he’s accused of raping an 85-year-old woman.."