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Report: Mother of minor in teen sex case changed statement after visit from prosecutors





ATLANTA (AP) ” The mother of a then-15-year-old girl in a highly publicized teen sex case told a newspaper that the boy involved should not have been criminally charged, but she changed her statement a day later after a visit from prosecutors, the newspaper said Thursday.

Lawyer B.J. Bernstein, who represents the young man, Genarlow Wilson, called the prosecution's visit "pure intimidation."

She said the mother's interview had made clear that the New Year's Eve party encounter between Wilson, then 17, and the 15-year-old girl "was definitely a consensual act."

Wilson was convicted of aggravated child molestation and -- based on a law that has since been changed -- was sentenced to a mandatory 10 years in prison. That sentence drew widespread criticism as grossly disproportionate to the crime, and a judge on Monday, calling it a "grave miscarriage of justice," ordered Wilson released. But Wilson, now 21, is still behind bars because the state attorney general is appealing the decision.

In an interview Tuesday, the girl's mother told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that her daughter had told her the videotaped sex acts were consensual. The mother also said she regretted that she didn't ask prosecutors not to charge Wilson and four other boys at the party.

"She did not want any of this to happen," the mother said. "I felt like Douglas County was trying to make an example out of these boys."

The day after that interview, the mother spoke to the Journal-Constitution again, saying she was worried that she might be misquoted. She said Douglas County Assistant District Attorney Eddie Barker was at her home with an audio recorder to discuss what she had said.

Douglas County District Attorney David McDade later disclosed that his office had taped the woman's second conversation, the newspaper reported.

"We were actually at her home when you were talking to her (Wednesday) morning," McDade said, according to the paper. "We were recording the conversation and so we have a tape of her telling you that you were twisting her words."

Bernstein said Thursday, "It was something that almost reminds us of what happens in a Communist country, that when you speak out about something to the media, you get a visit from the government."

Messages left Thursday with McDade's office seeking further comment were not immediately returned.

Barker, the assistant district attorney, told the paper: "Never once did she ever ask us not to prosecute this case."

In the initial interview on Tuesday, the mother told the newspaper that before Wilson's trial, Barker had told her that if she didn't assist the prosecution, she could face legal trouble for "neglect" as a parent. Barker denied that assertion, the newspaper said.

On Wednesday, the mother said that Barker had not been "threatening" her but rather giving her advice.

The AP is not naming the mother to protect the identity of the girl, who is considered a sex crime victim.

The girl, now 18, declined a request for an interview. The mother said the young woman had since joined the military to pursue a career in nursing.

"She is trying to put it all behind her," the mother said. "She does not want to come back to Douglasville because it is still a touchy subject. She still deals with it every day."

Just goes to show if ya aint got $$$$ -- yopu're screwed --

OH Wait Paris is back in Prison!!!!!


I hope GA pays this boy (man) a bucketload of money for its stupidity

The more I read about this the sadder I get. I wish they would just let the poor boy go. My God how many teens have done the EXACT same thing. Georgia is so messed up.

You can blame Jimmy Carter for that shit.lol

Release of tape in teen sex case may violate child-porn law


ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A federal prosecutor wants a Georgia district attorney to stop giving out copies of a videotape used as evidence in a teenage sex case that has drawn national attention.


Genarlow Wilson, now 21, was 17 when he was convicted of a felony for a sex act with a 15-year-old.

The tape was used in the prosecution of Genarlow Wilson, a Georgia man serving a 10-year prison sentence for a consensual sexual encounter he had as a teenager.

Wilson, now 21, was convicted of aggravated child molestation for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17 during a New Year's Eve party in Douglas County, Georgia, just west of Atlanta.

The sex act was videotaped by another partygoer -- and that tape shows the faces of several underage girls.

Douglas County District Attorney David McDade has estimated he has given the tape to about three dozen people -- including reporters, lawmakers and members of the public -- after receiving open records requests, according to The Associated Press. He told the AP Georgia's open records law requires him to do so.

That stance is supported by the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, which in response to a query from McDade issued a July 5 memo concluding, "f no one has filed for a protection order ... claiming that disclosure of the video tape would invade individual privacy, we can find no reason why disclosure of the video tape is not required under ... the Open Records Act."

The council said in the memo, which it provided to CNN, that Georgia's open records law contains no exemption for material considered child pornography.

Last-minute appeal in case draws outrage

However, David Nahmias, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said earlier this week: "We have advised that the videotape at issue constitutes child pornography under federal law and should not be knowingly distributed, received or possessed outside of law enforcement and judicial proceedings."

Nahmias said Tuesday that federal laws prohibiting the distribution or possession of child pornography "are intended to protect the children depicted in such images from the ongoing victimization of having their sexual activity viewed by others, potentially for years to come. ... These federal laws trump any contrary requirement of the state's open records act that may exist."

Nahmias' office encouraged those in possession of the tapes to return or destroy them.

A spokeswoman in McDade's office, asked by CNN whether the office has stopped providing the tape, referred questions to him Friday but said he was unavailable for comment.

CNN has requested the tape under the open records act but has not received a copy.

A Georgia state senator, meanwhile, told CNN on Friday he aims to close any loophole in the state law that would allow the distribution of the videotape.

"We have to protect our children from district attorneys," Sen. Emanuel Jones said Friday. If state law allows the distribution of the tape, he said, it or similar material could be available to anyone who filed a public records request -- even if they wanted the material for nefarious purposes.

"I believe state laws have been violated," Jones said. "I believe federal laws have been violated."

He said he plans to call the legislation, which he will introduce next year, the McDade Act.

Jones said he has asked Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker to investigate the matter and issue an opinion. Baker spokesman Russ Willard told CNN that Jones' request has been received, but he declined to comment further.

Wilson's case and sentence have created controversy in Georgia and beyond, drawing commentary from civil rights activist Al Sharpton and others.

Under a state law in effect at the time, Wilson received a mandatory 10-year sentence, of which he has already served more than two years.

Partly as a result of his conviction, state lawmakers changed the statute to make consensual sexual conduct between teenagers a misdemeanor instead of a felony. But the change was not made retroactive and so did not affect Wilson.

Acting on a petition filed by Genarlow Wilson's attorneys, Monroe County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wilson last month voided his sentence on constitutional grounds, saying it was cruel and unusual punishment. The judge reduced the sentence to one year and said Wilson should not be required to register as a sex offender, as required by the old Georgia law. But shortly after the ruling was issued, Baker announced he would appeal the decision.

Wilson's attorney, B.J. Bernstein, asked that Wilson, now 21, be released on bond during the appeals, but last month, a Douglas County Superior Court judge refused. Bernstein filed an appeal of that decision.

The Georgia Supreme Court will hear arguments on the case July 20.

He was 17...She was 15...

That's rape..?

Wilson Released From Prison After Two Years

Genarlow Wilson was released from prison Friday, after spending more than two years behind bars for a teen sex conviction.

At times I dealt with adversity ... my family and myself, we finally get to deal with happiness now," Wilson said, with his mother and sister at his side.

The Georgia Supreme Court earlier Friday ordered that he be released, ruling 4-3 that his sentence was cruel and unusual punishment.

Wilson, 21, was convicted in 2005 of having oral sex with a consenting 15-year-old girl when he was 17.

Wilson said he first heard about the possibility he'd be freed Friday when someone told him word was out on the radio.

"I'd seen it coming, but I didn't exactly know when," he said. "I'd just stopped trying to figure the courts out and stopped trying to put a date on it."

Wilson said he was looking forward to spending time with his family and plans to enroll in college to study sociology.

"You will not be disappointed," he told his supporters. "I plan on succeeding in life."

Wilson also said he doesn't regret rejecting a plea offer that could have freed him from prison months ago -- but would have required him to register as a sex offender.

"I'm glad I stayed down for my cause," he said. "I accepted the situation that I got myself into, but I never accepted that label."

Wilson's attorney, B.J. Bernstein, said earlier Friday she was working to gain his quick release.

She said Wilson's mother, Juannessa Bennett, was "overjoyed" at the court's decision.

A spokesman for Georgia Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker said there will be no further appeals.

Friday's decision came after a protracted legal battle that has galvanized international attention and drawn the involvement of civil rights leaders. Partly as a result of Wilson's conviction, state legislators changed the law to make such consensual conduct between minors a misdemeanor, rather than a felony.

"The release of Genarlow Wilson by the Georgia Supreme Court is a significant victory in redressing the reckless and biased behavior of the criminal justice system that now operates in many states across the union," the Rev. Al Sharpton said.

"The bad news is that his young life was so unfairly interrupted with time that no state court can recover for him," Sharpton added. "This is why the Justice Department and federal government must review state courts that willfully and almost without pause violate the civil rights of people, particularly young black men around this country."

Wilson was an honor student, a football star and his high school's homecoming king before his conviction.

At the time of Wilson's conviction, Georgia law made the crime punishable by 10 years in prison. Changes in the law made such conduct "punishable by no more than a year in prison and no sex offender registration," the Georgia high court noted.

But those changes were not made retroactive, so they did not apply to Wilson.

The high court upheld the decision of a Monroe County judge. In a 48-page opinion, the court said the "severe" punishment Wilson received and his mandated sex offender registration make "no measurable contribution to acceptable goals of punishment."

The case revolves around a 2003 New Year's Eve party outside Atlanta when Wilson engaged in the sex act with the girl.

Under the now-changed Georgia law, Wilson was convicted of felony aggravated child molestation. He was acquitted on a second charge of raping a 17-year-old girl -- who prosecutors maintained was too intoxicated at the party to consent.

The 10-year sentence was mandatory under the law.

In the decision, Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears wrote that changes in the law "represent a seismic shift in the legislature's view of the gravity of oral sex between two willing teenage participants."

"Although society has a significant interest in protecting children from premature sexual activity, we must acknowledge that Wilson's crime does not rise to the level of culpability of adults who prey on children," the court's majority found.

"For the law to punish Wilson as it would an adult, with the extraordinarily harsh punishment of 10 years in prison without the possibility of probation or parole, appears to be grossly disproportionate to his crime," the majority opinion concluded.

The dissent noted that the Georgia Legislature had made clear that the changes in the law were not to be applied retroactively.

Writing for the dissenting justices, Justice George Carley said, "The General Assembly made the express decision that he cannot benefit from the subsequent legislative determination to reduce the sentence for commission of that crime from felony to misdemeanor status."

The majority countered that it was not applying the 2006 amendment retroactively, but instead factoring that "into its determination that Wilson's punishment is cruel and unusual," the court said in a news release.

The court said this kind of decision is unusual: "The majority opinion points out that this court rarely overturns a sentence on cruel and unusual grounds. But twice before, it did so following a legislative change."

The Monroe County Superior Court judge also ruled that Wilson's punishment was cruel and unusual and voided it on constitutional grounds.

The judge reduced the sentence to one year and said Wilson should not be put on Georgia's sex offender registry, as the old law required.

Wilson's jubilant attorneys had hoped that ruling would free him from state prison. But shortly after it was handed down, Georgia's attorney general announced he would appeal that decision, a move that kept Wilson behind bars.

The Georgia high court said unanimously that the decision to deny Wilson bail was correct.

Wilson's plight drew pleas for his release, including from former President Carter, himself an ex-Georgia governor, and even some jurors who convicted him.

Legislation that would make the change in Georgia's child molestation law retroactive to free Wilson failed to win approval earlier this year.

Source: CNN

4-3 vote, what a bunch of bullshit!