Molester facing new charges denied bond
An Augusta man convicted of child molestation in 1992 was denied bond Tuesday on new molestation charges.
James D. Cousart Jr., 36, was charged with aggravated child molestation and two counts of child molestation after four children, with whom he has had daily contact , were found to have a sexually transmitted disease. A 12-year-old girl alleged Mr. Cousart had sodomized her numerous times, said Assistant District Attorney Pittman Morris.
According to court records, Mr. Cousart was convicted of child molestation for sexual contact with a 9-year-old girl in 1991. He has been a registered sex offender since completing a prison sentence in 1997.
Chief Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet denied bond.
Man charged in fatal wreck denied bond
A man facing vehicular homicide in the death of a cousin must await possible indictment and trial behind bars.
Chief Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet denied bond for Daniel R. Gonzalez, saying he posed a flight danger.
Mr. Gonzalez is accused of being drunk when he crashed his vehicle March 14 on Center West Parkway. His passenger, 17-year-old Victor Martinez, died from his injuries.
After the crash, Mr. Gonzalez, 23, fled the scene with a second passenger. Four hours after the wreck, his blood alcohol level was .144, said Assistant District Attorney Brooks Hudson. Georgia's legal limit for blood alcohol level is .08.
4 men tied to killing get 17 years in prison
Four men who pleaded guilty to kidnapping in a 2007 murder case involving a 20-year-old Batesburg man were sentenced Tuesday in an Aiken County courtroom to 17 years in prison.
Those sentenced were Ronnie Bowers Jr., John Oakman Jr., Marion Abner and Andre Norris. Three other men - Johnnie Walker, Sheldon Oakman and Darrell Williams - were sentenced Monday to 30 years imprisonment in the same case on a kidnapping plea. Frankie Gantt, who is believed to be the gunman who fatally shot Jeremy Leaphart on Christmas Eve 2007, was sentenced Monday to 45 years on a guilty plea to murder.
Judge Jack Early said he gave the four men in Tuesday's sentencing less time to serve because he felt their involvement was not as substantial as the others. Authorities say they believe Mr. Leaphart was kidnapped and killed after he could not produce guns he was asked to keep.
Enrollment at Augusta Tech is up 6.3 percent
Augusta Technical College's spring enrollment jumped 6.3 percent from last spring, part of a growth trend seen throughout the Technical College System of Georgia, according to information released Tuesday.
Augusta Tech's enrollment now stands at 4,234, up from 3,983 a year ago.
The system grew by 15.3 percent this quarter to 90,420, marking its second largest enrollment in the state's history. The current fiscal year now includes two of the three highest quarterly enrollments in the history of the Technical College System of Georgia.
Administrative staff set for Grovetown High
The Columbia County school board rounded out the administrative staff for the new Grovetown High School during its Tuesday meeting.
Assisting Grovetown High Principal Penny Jackson will be Harlem High science teacher Craig Baker and Harlem High counselor Sean Petro.
Also at the meeting, the board approved transferring Evans Elementary Principal Scott Weinand to Grovetown Elementary to replace retiring principal Bob Boyd. No decision was made Tuesday on who will replace Mr. Weinand.
Judge not assigned to murder case sets bond
Chief Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet granted bond Tuesday in a murder case assigned to another judge.
The judge set an $80,000 bond for Michael O. Faulks, 19, who is charged with murder in a Jan. 4 shooting.
The prosecutor asked Judge Overstreet not to hold Tuesday's hearing in Richmond County Superior Court because the case is assigned to Judge Carl C. Brown Jr. A bond hearing for Mr. Faulks was set for Friday with Judge Brown.
Mr. Faulks' case ended up in front of Judge Overstreet because it had previously been scheduled on Tuesday's bond calendar.
Mr. Faulks was indicted April 14 on charges of murder and a weapon violation in the shooting death of 22-year-old Jamar White. Mr. White died after being shot in the chest. Mr. Faulks' attorney said Tuesday that the shooting was an accident.
Mother, son to have bond hearing May 13
A May 13 bond hearing has been set for a Columbia County woman and son accused of murder.
Rebecca Sears, 41, and her son Christopher Bowers, 20, face the death penalty in the fatal beating of Laverne "Kay" Parsons, Mrs. Sears' next-door neighbor.
The bond hearing for Mrs. Sears, of 227 Hot Springs Drive, Grovetown, and Mr. Bowers, of the 4000 block of Briarwood Drive, Martinez, will be held at the Columbia County Justice Center in Evans.
An arraignment hearing will be held at the same time, said Mrs. Sears' attorney Victor Hawk.
2 women are injured in family scuffle at home
An Augusta woman was in stable condition Tuesday after she was shot the night before trying to defend her fiancé's brother from his ex-wife.
Betty Moss, 60, was hit at close range by shotgun fire during an argument and scuffle at a home in the 1700 block of Brown Road, according to Richmond County sheriff's Sgt. Ken Rogers.
Alice Fulmer, 54, fled and wrecked her Chevy Blazer in a nearby yard. She was admitted to the Medical College of Georgia Hospital for injuries she suffered in the wreck, Sgt. Rogers said.
She is facing charges of aggravated assault, DUI, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and driving with a suspended license.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Those poor babies! SomeBODY whack that thing off! How many more children does he need to molest before they do him in? MY GOD!
I guess when Cousart is released this time, he'll have to be double registered. That ought to protect children from this monster. Our "molester laws" are very compassionate.
child molesters are the lowest form of life on this earth and should be put to death. they will NEVER change their ways.
Lorena Bobbitt is back and making headlines again, she needs to come here and take care of some of these perverts...... I am a firm believer in chemical castration.
Chemical castration doesn't always work they still get the urges and often resort to other forms of sexual assaults to fulfill their needs. These pieces of garbage need to rot in prison. These registries don't make it hard for them to find other victims, most people don't check them. He gives babies diseases they should rip him apart in prison. What a waste of life!!
Someone will plant their seed in prison
Castration does not always work on sexual offenders. This man should not have been released in the first place. Being registered as a sexual offender does nothing to ensure the protection of other children. All hardcore sexual offenders of children should be in prison for life, never with a chance to be released or should be executed. Too many repeat offenders!!
Sex Offender Registration Laws - FAIL.
How about mechanical castration?
He is on this page.http://appweb.augustaga.gov/sheriffs_office/registry_offenders.asp?offset=50
What about the mother of the children? She had to know he was on the sex offender list. She should be in jail too.
I am very curious to why is this registered sex offender even in the place as these children. It raises the questions of, did the mother know this man was a child molester? Does she care? Did she even bother to check into who he is, especially if you dont know him. We have to be careful who we have our children around, whether it be family, friends, ect... Parents we have to be more careful!
Why do they make it sound nice? It's not child molestation, it's child rape! I'd love to have just 1 hr alone with him. All I need is a corkscrew a beer bottle and putty knife.
To Mr Cousart-- I hope they put you under the jail, being in jail is too good for you. I would like to know "were all these children from the same family?" If so and their mother was living in the home with him she should be held responsible also. Since he had daily contact with these children seems that could be a possibility. And andywarhol, there's plenty of us that will furnish what you need to do the job!!! SusieQ
Corkscrew...check, beer bottle (how many do you need, lol?)...checks, putty knife...check.
Believe it or not, some mothers don't care, or they are in luv and offer up their kids as a means to keep him. He si after all, a good person. I know nothing about this case or the people involved, but it sometimes happens that way.
Those poor children ruined by this sick, sick poor excuse for a man. Doesn't anyone look at the sex offender registry? I do. I want to know who is living near me and my tenants. Two guys that were on the registry died recently. If the children's mother knew about his prior conviction, she should be jailed too!
I saw this no good creep for myself and do you know he had the nerve to get a attitude when they denied his bond. And those poor kids had to suffer with a STD for weeks before anything was done. I hope someone give this creep a STD that burns him alive!
Bastard. I'm sorry, but if you molest or rape somebody, I don't think you should ever get out of prison. Thanks for posting the link Rose.
Child molesters don't need to be castrated or imprisoned, they need to be put down like rabid dogs. These disgusting monsters can never be cured and will ALWAYS present a danger to children. As long as they are alive, there is a chance that someone will screw up and let them out of jail. There's no chance they'll come back from six feet under.
i came to know this guy about ten years ago. he was looking for work i let him paint etc. he made a lewd comment to my daughter he asked her(do you have any indian in you? she said no,, he said how would you like to have 8 inches?) i ran him off but like a predator he tried staying in contact with my family. we found out he was a registered offender he contested it was a plea agreement to drop a drug charge. yeah right..... it took about 2 years to get away from him completly! 2 of the kids are his the other 2 are hers he met his wife on the internet. he also pimped her out i know he used to go to grovetown and let a group of mexicans have her for 20 to 30 dollars a pop! he may make 300.00 but do the math! this i know for a fact... the mother of his 2 kids last i seen she was on crack and prostituting whereever she could. i always thought revenge on him but gods wrath is far more than mine