I’m happy to say that Genarlow Wilson is a free man today, 21 years old with a bright future ahead.
Many may have wondered why Genarlow Wilson didn’t take a plea deal like his teen-aged buddies elected to do. All were offered a plea deal which would have reduced their sentences, possibly to time served, and eventually remove the conviction and sex offender status from their records. Genarlow, football hero, honor student, and homecoming king with a bright future, chose the ten year sentence handed down to him while the rest went free.
In case you’re unaware of his crime, in his own words he knows that he did some “idiotic” things, as many teenagers do. Wilson then 17, had consensual sex with his then 15 year old girlfriend, then a felony in GA. After turning down the deal, he chose to serve the full 10 year sentence .While in prison, the crime was reduced to a misdemeanor, but would not be retroactive for him. At the time the Supreme Court voted 4-3 to allow him the two years time served, even the court was calling it “cruel and unusual punishment.” Perhaps the story becoming front page news played some small part in the Court’s decision as well?
Why did he choose prison? In his own words, “I wouldn’t be able to stay with my mother because I have a little sister. You know when you’re a sex offender you can’t even be around kids. Basically, I can’t even have kids myself, so what is the point of life?” He said he feels no “negative energy” toward District Attorney.David McDade who fought doggedly against efforts to have Wilson’s sentence reduced, fighting for the full ten years. Nor does he feel animosity toward the prosecutors, saying they were just doing their jobs.
While he never wants to see the inside of a prison again, he is amazingly positive. His focus is on the future and college.
The experience helped him select a major, Sociology “because I feel I’ve been living my major.”
“The new Genarlow Wilson will be more conservative, more alert and more appreciative of the blessings bestowed upon him”, he said. I see a bright future for this young man, and mercifully this miscarriage of justice will be nothing more than a speed bump in his distant past, and maybe a lesson to our law makers and those who enforce those laws. Genarlow Wilson CNN story