Genarlow Wilson

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Genarlow Wilson (born April 8, 1986) is a former high school football player who has become a cause celebre after being convicted of aggravated child molestation in the state of Georgia, USA, in 2004. His conviction for participating in an act of receptive oral sex from a 15 year old girl at a New Year’s Eve party in 2003 has been highly contentious, as Wilson was only 17 at the time, and because it is uncontested that the act was consensual.^[1]

1 Background
2 Legal case
3 Support
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Background

The conviction was based on an amateur video tape showing Wilson and some of his friends engaging in sex with a 17 year old during a private party, and later receiving oral sex from the 15 year old.^[2]^[3] The video shows the 17 year old girl on the bathroom floor, then later having sex with Wilson. She appeared sleepy or intoxicated during the sex act and she did ask Wilson to stop. ^[4] Waking up naked and in a stupor the next morning, she claimed to have been raped.^[3] Investigating the alleged rape, police later found condoms, evidence of drinking as well as the video camera in the motel room used for the party.^[4]

A jury acquitted Wilson of raping the 17 year old, but convicted him of aggravated child molestation against the 15 year old. The "aggravated" nature of the charge refers to sodomy (oral sex) rather than a mere "immoral or indecent act." Had Wilson had intercourse with the 15 year old and not received oral sex from her, he would have been subject to a 5 year minimum prison term instead of the 10 year minimum term that the judge gave him. (Official Code of Georgia Annotated § 16-6-4)

[edit] Legal case

The 15 year old girl, who has remained unnamed in the press as a 'victim of a sex offense', has repeatedly stated that the act of oral sex was consensual. The jury acquitted Wilson of the rape charge, but as the age of consent in Georgia is 16, they voted to convict him of aggravated child molestation for the oral sex incident, with the forewoman tearfully reading the verdict. Some jury members later complained they had not understood the verdict would result in a 10 year minimum sentence,^[3] plus one year on probation.

Wilson received the 10-year sentence because of his refusal to enter into a proposed plea bargain. His decision, as well as his continued fight to overturn his conviction are based mostly on the fact that sex offenders in Georgia must register themselves and are subject to penalty laws for life.^[3] As the law stands, Wilson could not even return to his own family after an early release, as he has an 8-year-old sister and would be forbidden contact.^[5] The other young males involved (including one charged for the same oral sex acts as Wilson) accepted plea bargains with the possibility of parole; they are required to register as convicted sex offenders.^[2] Wilson had been offered, and rejected, a plea bargain for a five year sentence with the possibility of parole before the trial. After the jury had returned the guilty verdict, the prosecutor offered the same 5-year plea bargain again, and Wilson refused again. Another young man involved in the case had accepted a similar 5-year plea bargain and was paroled after two years.^[3]

In part because of the publicity surrounding this case, the law under which Wilson was convicted was changed after his conviction; the act would now be treated as a misdemeanor with a maximal sentence of one year in prison, and no sex offender registration. This change however was not made retroactive.^[3]

The case was appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court; the court denied to hear the case on a 4-3 decision, with four white judges voting against hearing the case and three black judges voting in favor.^[3] On December 15, 2006, the Georgia Supreme Court denied a motion to reconsider its refusal to hear the case. The presiding judge wrote that she was "very sympathetic to Wilson's argument regarding the injustice of sentencing this promising young man with good grades and no criminal history to 10 years in prison without parole and a lifetime registration as a sexual offender because he engaged in consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old victim only two years his junior," but that she was bound by the letter of the law.^[6] Wilson's lawyer was planning to file a habeas petition seeking his release.^[5]

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."

A bipartisan group of legislators have meanwhile introduced a bill that would free Wilson.^[3]

[edit] Support

On December 21, 2006, the New York Times published an editorial^[5] condemning the Georgia Supreme Court's decision, noting that Wilson was not a sexual predator, and that his behavior would have only been a misdemeanor if he had actually had sex with the girl, instead of having had oral sex (due to a loophole in the applicable law's provision intended to prevent exactly this kind of dubious conviction). Oral sex has long had a special criminal status in Georgia law; until 1998, oral sex even between husband and wife was punishable with up to 20 years in prison.^[4]