Middleton is now out in the streets? Judge Brown, you are part of the problem. That's just sick! Next time, I hope he ends up disabled.
Two men accused of raping a woman as punishment for not repaying a debt pleaded guilty to lesser charges Thursday.
Gerald W. Smith Sr., 42, who has a history of arrests for sex crimes, and Tommy C. Middleton, 55, pleaded guilty in Richmond County Superior Court to false imprisonment.
Both men denied any violence in an April 12 incident that occurred at Mr. Middleton's Peach Orchard Road home.
Judge Carl C. Brown Jr. accepted the plea negotiation worked out by the attorneys. Mr. Smith will serve six years in prison followed by four years' probation. Mr. Middleton was sentenced to one year incarceration, a term he has served since he has been held without bond since his arrest last spring.
The night of April 12 a woman walked into the sheriff department's south Augusta substation and reported that she had been raped by both men, according to an earlier report in The Augusta Chronicle .
Mr. Middleton and Mr. Smith told investigators that the woman had sexual relations because she owed money.
Mr. Smith has a criminal record that dates back to 1992 and includes three arrests for peeping Tom.
In 2003, Mr. Smith faced charges in three sexual-assault cases. He pleaded guilty to two counts of false imprisonment and was sentenced to two years in prison followed by eight years' probation.
Mr. Smith was still on probation for the 2003 case when he was arrested for the new offense.
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.
Comments
Middleton is now out in the streets? Judge Brown, you are part of the problem. That's just sick! Next time, I hope he ends up disabled.
So the message we want to send to chronic rapists is you'll get six years, be out in 3. What's wrong with this picture??? I agree with Crystal's mon.
I think there was an element of her agreeing to "work off her debt" or Judge Brown would have given more time.
There has to be more information on this. Repeat sex offender gets six years, accomplice gets one year (time served). Sounds like there might be something to their assertations that "there was no violence". BS either way it goes. I4, granted, the guy has a penchant for this kinda stuff, but without more info, who's to say what really happened. There's one side, There's the other side & somewhere in all that, there's the truth. Smith has been "kid gloved" since 92. It's time to set the record straight. Three peeping toms & three sexual assaults prior to this? WTF, over?
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