Probable cause found that Fayette County man serving house arrest violated SORNA
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WBRC) - A Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge decided Thursday that there is probable cause a Fayette County man convicted of sex crimes against minors violated the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
The decision came following a preliminary hearing for Timothy Vess Benton, who was initially convicted in 2019 of two counts of second degree sodomy and sentenced to 17 years in prison.
A Fayette County judge then changed the sentence to allow Benton to be placed on house arrest instead. Benton was arrested nearly one month after being moved to a community corrections program for violating SORNA for not putting a valid ALEA-issued photo identification on file when he registered as a sex offender in Fayette county.
Testimony was heard from Fayette County law enforcement who said that by law sex offenders must have that valid photo ID as part of their registration.
A sheriff’s deputy in charge of Fayette County’s sex offender registry program said Benton and his family members were told on August 7 when he came to register that they had 14 business days to get a valid ID. Vess was arrested September 4th after law enforcement said he never returned to put an ID on file.
Benton attorneys claim no one went over the registration forms with Benton, and insinuated that Fayette County is using an outdated version of the forms needed to register as a sex offender.
Following the hearing, some family members of victims said they’re considering the decision a “small victory.”
“It’s a start, they could’ve let him walk, they didn’t, it was a small win” said Chris Key, a father of one of the victims, “got a win for some of the victims, he was in prison, and they let him out 12 years early, lets put him back where he belongs.”
Judge Jim Gentry today saying that the charges will now be bound over to a Fayette County Grand Jury.
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