September 25, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
A local clergyman indicted last year in a child sex crime was sentenced Tuesday in DeKalb County Criminal Court.
68-year-old James Michael Carpenter, indicted for aggravated sexual battery, entered a plea to sexual battery and received a two-year suspended sentence except for 11 months and 29 days to serve. He will then be on supervised probation.
Carpenter has pastored or been involved in several local churches and has reportedly participated in ministry mission trips over the years.
The victim in this case was 4 years old at the time of the alleged first offense.
According to the indictment, Carpenter “on or about April 17, 2015 to April 17, 2017 in DeKalb County and before the finding of this indictment did unlawfully make sexual contact with a minor child less than 13 years of age in violation of state law”.
Meanwhile, 25-year-old Gabriel James Hesson entered a plea to two counts of aggravated assault in each case to run concurrently with each other. The term is for four years and has been suspended except for one year to serve. He has been given 53 days of jail credit. Hesson is also to make restitution of $40,000 to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department jointly and severally with a co-defendant.
Sheriff Patrick Ray said that on October 20, 2023 both Hesson and Christopher Edward Spoon, Jr assaulted another male inmate at the jail by hitting him in the face several times with a closed fist. The fight was caught on video surveillance and officers responded to the cell to stop it. The video showed both Hesson and Spoon delivering the blows causing the victim to suffer broken bones, abrasions and facial swelling.
In the second offense committed on Saturday, September 21, 2024, Hesson entered a plea by criminal information to unlawfully and intentionally or knowingly causing bodily injury to another while utilizing a deadly weapon, to wit: a gun. The case was investigated by the Smithville Police Department.
46-year-old Ricky Ashford, II entered a plea to aggravated assault and received a three-year suspended sentence as a Range I offender to run consecutive to a violation of probation in DeKalb County. Ashford was given jail credit of 325 days and must make restitution of $40,000 to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department jointly and severally with a co-defendant.
51-year-old Melissa Faye Murphy entered a plea to possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and received a four-year suspended sentence. She must forfeit any weapons seized. She was fined $10.