Four former South Gwinnett High School students charged with rape have reached a plea deal with the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office that will allow them to leave prison while they are still in their 20s.
Cameron Richard, Darriah Mitchell, Tavien Hartwell and William Thompson could have been sentenced to life in prison if the case had gone to trial. Instead, they agreed to plead guilty to attempted rape and serve eight years of a 15 year sentence, Channel 2 Action News reported.
PREVIOUSLY | All 4 teens charged in Gwinnett rape to be tried as adults
READ | Cop: DFCS was told Gwinnett mom was starving toddler year before death
The teenagers were charged with rape in a May 4, 2016 incident in which they allegedly videotaped themselves sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl. The oldest of the defendants, Richard was also charged with possession of child pornography for allegedly filming the assault.
The victim and the four defendants had sneaked out of school and gone to a bus lot off Skyland Drive in Snellville to take Xanax and smoke marijuana before the assault occurred, according to Snellville police. After the assault, video of the incident was “transmitted around the school,” Snellville Police Chief Roy Whitehead said at the time.
Credit: Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office
The defendants also pleaded guilty under Georgia’s first offender act, meaning they will have no criminal record and will not have to register as sex offenders after successfully completing their sentences.
“Given the holes in the case on both sides, and given the magnitude of the charge and the possibility of a life sentence, it's always good to be able to say your client is going to see fresh air again in his 20s without a record,” attorney Gerald Griggs told Channel 2.
The Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office was ready to go to trial with the case, but reached a deal with the defendants shortly before that trial would have begun.
“I kept saying, ‘We have a good case. We have evidence. Don't make me do this,’” District Attorney Danny Porter told Channel 2.
Mitchell’s mother saw part of the video and does not believe that the incident was rape, but did not want to “gamble [her] son’s life” by going to trial. Hildiah Martin-Suggs sees an opportunity for her son to better his life in the future.
“Darriah won't be spending the rest of his life in prison for a video that we can't justify even though he was under the influence,” Martin-Suggs told Channel 2. “He will make better choices in his future, finish school, work and mentor more youth not to make the same mistakes he made by skipping school and using drugs.”
All four defendants have been held in the Gwinnett County Detention Center without bond since their arrests in June 2016. They will receive credit for that time already served towards their prison sentences.
Like Gwinnett County News on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter and Instagram
Stay up to the minute with breaking news on Channel 2 Action News This Morning
Previous coverage:
About the Author
