Brian Jones, 47, of Old Fort, Tn., was sentenced on Wednesday by Superior Court Judge Scott Minter to serve a total of 39 years in prison followed by one year on probation as required by Georgia law on certain sexual offense sentences. Standard sex offender conditions were also imposed and Jones will have to register as a sex offender.
Jones was convicted by a Murray County jury on Oct. 18 of three counts of child molestation and one count of sexual battery against a minor.
The case involved abuse against two children and the offenses were indicted separately in two different indictments by the Murray County Grand Jury in March.
The allegations against Jones were investigated by Detectives Eric White and Brett Morrison of the Murray County Sheriff’s Office and by Detective Andy Dill of the Chatsworth Police Department with assistance from The GreenHouse, child advocacy center which serves both Murray and Whitfield Counties. In addition to law enforcement, numerous family members testified at trial as did Melissa Wells, forensic interviewer for The GreenHouse who interviewed both children. The investigation began in the Spring of 2017 following both children’s disclosures of abuse to their families. Jones had access to the children through a relationship with another family member but was not himself a relative of the victims.
Jones did not speak at his sentencing and neither side presented evidence although representatives of the victims' families did submit written victim statements to the court prior to sentencing.
Jones was represented by Dalton attorney Jerry Moncus. The state was represented at trial and at sentencing by Assistant District Attorney Ben Kenemer.