NEWS RELEASE
FRANKFORT, KY. (Aug. 22, 2016) – Attorney General Andy Beshear and his Special Prosecution Division today announced the fourth and final defendant in a Hopkinsville sexual assault case of a minor has accepted a plea agreement.
Dayton Jones, 22, entered his plea Monday before Christian Circuit Judge John Atkins. Jones was scheduled for a jury trial Monday in Christian Circuit Court.
Jones agreed to a 15-year sentence on first-degree sodomy, Class B felony; first-degree wanton endangerment, Class D felony; and distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor, Class D felony. He must register as a lifetime sex offender.
Jones must serve at least 8 1/2 years of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. He will serve an additional five years of conditional release at the completion of his sentence.
Jones’ three co-defendants in the case entered plea agreements last week. All four were sentenced for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old boy at an October 2014 party in Christian County.
Beshear’s prosecutors handled the case for the state and helped secure the pleas.
“I want to thank my team of prosecutors for getting plea agreements so all the issues surrounding this case won’t have to be presented at a jury trial for the victim and his family and the entire Christian County community to relive,” Beshear said.
According to the plea agreements, the four defendants, whose combined sentencing totals nearly 60 years, sexually assaulted the minor while he was unconscious at a house party. In doing so, the defendants inflicted serious physical injury to the minor.
Jones final sentencing is set for 1 p.m. Nov. 1.
The AG’s Special Prosecution Division is responsible for assisting local prosecutors in complex or sensitive cases, as well as, handle cases in which a local prosecutor disqualifies themselves.
One of Beshear’s core missions is to seek justice for victims of sexual assault.