Wilson v. State
Wilson v. State, 652 S.E. 2d 501, 282 Ga. 520 (2007) was a Georgia court case brought about to appeal the aggravated child molestation conviction of Genarlow Wilson (born April 8, 1986, to Juanessa Bennett and Marlow Wilson).
| Wilson v. State | |
|---|---|
| Court | Monroe County Superior Court |
| Full case name | Genarlow Wilson v. State of Georgia |
| Decided | April 28, 2006 |
| Case history | |
| Prior action(s) | State v. Wilson (trial in Douglas Superior Court); Wilson v. State 279 Ga. App. 459 (appeal to Court of Appeals of Georgia); Wilson v. State 2006 Ga. LEXIS 1036 (application to Supreme Court of Georgia for certiorari denied) |
| Subsequent action(s) | Appeal granted Supreme Court of Georgia October 26, 2007 |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | Judge Thomas Wilson |
| Case opinions | |
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Wilson was convicted of aggravated child molestation in 2005, after, at the age of 17, he had engaged in oral sex with a 15-year-old at a New Year's Eve party, an offense carrying a mandatory penalty of 10 years' imprisonment.
At the time of his conviction, provisions for similarity in age that allowed underage consent to be taken into account were only applicable to vaginal sex. Because the case involved oral sex, the consent of the girl was not at that time legally relevant.
On October 26, 2007, the Georgia State Supreme Court, while not overturning the conviction itself, ruled that Wilson's sentence was disproportionate. He was released later that day, after serving over 4 years of his 10-year prison sentence in the Al Burruss Correctional Training Center in Forsyth, Georgia.