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Georgia court throws out 10-year teen sex sentence
ATLANTA (Reuters) - A Georgia court ordered the release on Monday of a man sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex with a girl when the two were teenagers.
Georgia's attorney general said he would appeal.
Genarlow Wilson, now 21, was sent to prison in 2005 for aggravated child molestation, then a felony with a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years and lifetime registration on the state's sexual offender list.
A sports star and honor student, Wilson was 17 when he was videotaped at a 2003 New Year's Eve party having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl.
His supporters noted that under Georgia law, if he had had intercourse with the girl, he would have been charged with a misdemeanor and received a far lighter sentence. But a loophole in the law allowed prosecutors to file felony charges.
Georgia legislators changed the law in 2006 to make oral sex among teens a misdemeanor.
Wilson's plight became a cause. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and other well-known figures wrote letters of support. The legislator who sponsored the law under which Wilson was convicted said it was never intended to be used that way.
"If any case fits into the definitive limits of a miscarriage of justice, surely this case does," Superior Court Judge Thomas Wilson said in his ruling Monday.
"The fact that Genarlow Wilson has spent two years in prison for what is now classified as a misdemeanor, and without assistance from this court will spend eight more years in prison, is a grave miscarriage of justice," he wrote.
Wilson's conviction was amended to a misdemeanor, his sentence was changed to 12 months and he was ordered released on time served. He was not required to register as a sex offender.
Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker said in a statement he would file an appeal to resolve "clearly erroneous legal issues" created by Wilson's order and would seek a quick ruling from the Georgia Supreme Court.
He said the judge had no authority to reduce or modify the judgment of the trial court.
(Additional reporting by Karen Jacobs)
