Posted on 07/05/2007 6:08:06 PM PDT by Daffynition
The Rev. Al Sharpton embraced the mother and sister of a man serving a 10-year sentence for consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old, joining hundreds of supporters Thursday demanding his immediate release from prison.
Genarlow Wilson has been in prison for two years for taking part in the sex act when he was 17 years old.
"This boy is not only her son, he's your son, he's my son," Sharpton told the cheering crowd from the steps of the Douglas County Courthouse. "We're here today because what affects you affects all of us."
State Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan said Wilson's punishment was excessive and should be reduced, just like the prison sentence for former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, which was commuted Monday by President Bush.
"Genarlow is the face of many other young black men who have received injustice," Thomas Morgan said. "Somebody's got to stand up for them."
The crowd held signs that read "Free Genarlow" and "Justice Now." The issues of race and class came up in many speeches.
"If he had a different complexion and a different connection, we wouldn't be here," Sharpton said.
Wilson, now 21, is serving a 10-year mandatory sentence for aggravated child molestation stemming from a 2003 New Year's Eve Party where he was captured on videotape receiving oral sex from a 15-year-old girl. The law has since been changed by Georgia lawmakers, but the state's top court said the new law could not be applied retroactively.
Wilson was also charged in 2003 with raping a 17-year-old girl at the party, but a jury acquitted him of the charges.
Five other male partygoers accepted plea deals in the case. Wilson rejected the plea offer.
On June 11, Monroe County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wilson ruled that Genarlow Wilson should be freed from prison and not listed on Georgia's sex offender registry. The judge called the 10-year mandatory sentence "a grave miscarriage of justice" that violated the constitution.
Attorney General Thurbert Baker immediately appealed that ruling, drawing criticism from civil rights activists.
The Georgia Supreme Court is set to hear the latest appeal in October. Wilson's lawyer, B.J. Bernstein, had sought to get Wilson released on bond while the appeal moved forward.
But Douglas County Superior Court Judge David Emerson said Wilson was ineligible for bond under Georgia law. Bernstein is appealing that decision.
That kid got a raw deal.
He should be set free.
A 17 year old and a 15 year old is not that uncommon. The sentence is too harsh.
They forgot to arrest the girl and charge her with conspiracy to exploit herself.
This does seem like quite a harsh sentence, and when the kid gets out, he will probably have turned into a real criminal.
The case was appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court; the court twice refused to hear the case, with the presiding judge delivering an opinion that said she was "very sympathetic to Wilson's argument" but that she was bound by the Legislature's decision to make the law not apply retroactively.[12]
The governor does not have pardon power in Georgia, but the prosecutor has the power to set aside the verdict. The prosecutor Eddie Barker, apparently waiting for an admission of guilt, has said "the one person who can change things at this point is Genarlow. The ball's in his court."
I sure don’t understand this case. From what I understand it was consensual sex. What was the issue, that force was used? That she was younger than him?
Genarlow is a scumbag. In addition to the blowjob, the G man and his posse also videotaped themselves having sex with an intoxicated woman that same evening in that same motel room. The woman cried rape and the boys were tried on the charge. The jury acquitted them, apparently deciding the young lady was sober enough to consent to having multiple sex partners and being filmed doing it. I’m not gonna lose any sleep over this.
I think you might be right. I haven’t read the details of his incarceration but I doubt he was put in juvenile detainment. The length of his sentence would place him in the classification (and placement) with hardcore felons as well.
Genarlow Wilson was charged with rape, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, aggravated sodomy and aggravated child molestation. He and five buddies videotaped their "party" on New Year's Eve with two young girls - one of whom was 17 and "semi-conscious" (according to the Georgia Court of Appeals) and another who was 15 and a minor.
This was not two star-crossed lovers on a date. Wilson engaged in intercourse with the 17-year-old after she was passed out drunk and high on drugs and encouraged the others to join him. She accused the young men of rape and has never recanted. Sex with a semi-conscious female who cannot grant consent is rape - even if she earlier granted it consensually. She also was locked in the bathroom in between the sex acts and this resulted in a "false imprisonment" conviction for one of the men. Later, all but one of them received oral sex from the minor. This is against the law in Georgia because a minor is not deemed capable of consenting to such an act.
There were six men with 40 prior arrests among them in a hotel room with a semi-conscious girl and a minor. They were consuming illegal drugs and alcohol underage. They weren't choirboys. One of the men impregnated a 12-year-old while awaiting trial and has since been convicted of statutory rape. Five of the six men pled guilty to the lesser charge of child molestation instead of aggravated child molestation. All are serving time.
BUMP.
These thugs are lucky to be alive. If one of these girls had a real father...
WOW, they’re really lucky this didn’t happen in Raleigh-Durham.
I hear they’ve got a prosecutor up there who’ll really fry your ass at the mere suspicion of something like this......
OOPS...oh yeah....never mind...um...sorry....my “bad”.
This "kid" rented a hotel room and had a "party" with drugs, booze, a 17 yr old that was nearly unconscious, a minor and 5 of his buddies. They video taped them all having sex with the girls. Nice.
And ya gotta love this : One of the men impregnated a 12-year-old while awaiting trial
Try reading the link in post 11.
So the guy is a somewhat sleezy kid who has sex with two girls in one night. I don't necessarily want him dating my daughters, but TEN YEARS IN PRISON? For what?
So send that other man to jail. What does that have to do with Genarlow Wilson? Why punish this kid for some other guy's crime?
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