Wednesday, July 25, 2001 |
Local 14-year-old faces adult charges for statutory rape, aggravated child molestation By JOHN
MUNFORD
A local 14-year-old boy will be tried as an adult on charges of statutory rape and aggravated child molestation. The child is accused of forcing himself on a young girl under the age of 16 on March 24 and 25, according to warrants filed for his arrest by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The incident occurred at a residence at the Marnelle Mobile Home Park, said Joe Jackson, the Special Agent in Charge of the GBI's Greenville office. The suspect's address is also listed at Marnelle Mobile Home Park on the warrants for his arrest. The Citizen is withholding the suspect's identity since he is a juvenile. At a bond hearing last week, Magistrate Court Judge A.K. Melear set the suspect's bond at $100,000. The youth had been incarcerated at the Regional Youth Detention Center in Griffin prior to the hearing. Melear placed several conditions on the bond, forbidding the suspect from contacting the victim and from being around children at Marnelle. Melear also required the suspect to abide by a curfew beginning at 4:30 p.m. and lasting until 7:30 a.m. the next day. As soon as the suspect makes bond, he will be required to enroll in sexual abuse counseling, according to the bond conditions. Both the victim and the offender were "well under 16," Jackson said. The GBI was asked to assist in the investigation by the Fayette County Sheriff's Department, Jackson said. There were no unusual circumstances warranting that assistance, he added. Detectives from the sheriff's department were listed as witnesses on the warrants for West's arrest.
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