Legal Question in Criminal Law in Mississippi

He accepted a plea offer. Remember, the act of statutory rape does not require a child to be born to have occurred. He has accepted a plea deal. Expect him to be in prison for an extended time.

He could attempt to appeal claiming he did not understand the plea or some other long shot, but it would be difficult at best

Depending on the length of time between the conviction and today he may be able to obtain what is known as POST CONVICTION RELIEF. If he can show that "...due to the neglect of his Attorney he entered a plea but that if he had competent counsel who did an adequate job he would not have been convicted..." then there is a chance the Court will set aside his plea and allow him to defend on the merits. Once the plea is set aside he would be in a position to go to trial to contest the facts and to show the other man was the father. Just because the other person's child was born, however, does not preclude the chance your friend could have raped the victim (with no child conceived as a result.) If she testifies that they had nonconsensual sex he could still be convicted depending on the facts surrounding his contact with the victim.