Consensual Teen Sex Means Jail Time for Genarlow Wilson
In 2003 Genarlow Wilson, then 17, attended a New Year's Eve teen house party with his friends. There was alcohol to drink, pot to smoke and girls - plenty of girls.
One thing led to another at the party and soon the teens were engaging in consensual sex. Unfortunately, the sex was videotaped by someone at the party. When the tape became public, Genarlow Wilson was arrested for child molestation and sexual battery.
He was tried and acquitted of the rape of a 17 year old girl at the party but found guilty of aggravated child molestation for having consensual oral sex with a 15 year old girl. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison without any chance of parole.
Since Wilson's conviction, laws have changed to classify similar crimes as misdemeanor offenses, punishable by up to one year in prison. The problem is that the changes to the law are not retroactive, so the new "Romeo and Juliet Law" does not make a difference in Wilson's case.
This case has drawn nationwide interest and Wilson has some very high profile supporters, including former President Jimmy Carter who has written a letter to the Attorney General in support of a petition to throw out the conviction.
The Attorney General opposes Wilson's petition and wants to either keep Wilson in jail for the full 10 years or force him to accept a plea agreement. Wilson has rejected all deals that he has been offered.
On Monday, June 11, arguments for and against Wilson's petition were heard in court by Judge Thomas H. Wilson.
The judge called Wilson's 10 year sentence "a grave miscarriage of justice" and ordered a bond hearing so that he could be released. The ruling reclassified Wilson's offense to a misdemeanor with a sentence of 12 months in jail. Since Wilson has already served 2 years, he would be credited with time served, be released from jail and not have to register as a sex offender.
Attorney General Thurburt Baker immediate filed a notice of appeal and challenged the judge's decision to commute Wilson's sentence. He argued that the judge did not have the authority to commute the sentence because the new law, which made the crime a misdemeanor, was not retroactive.
A Superior Court Judge agreed with the Attorney General and has canceled Wilson's bond hearing.
Wilson remains in prison while his attorneys continue to work to find an avenue for his release. In the meantime there is an online petition directed to the Georgia General Assembly that is gathering names to send a message to lawmakers that keeping Genarlow Wilson in prison for 10 years is outrageous and wrong.
