Cartersville Sex Offender Molested Girl, Sentenced To Prison

An original version of this story had incorrect information about the victim in this case.

CARTERSVILLE, GA — In an agreement with the state, a convicted sex offender was sentenced to 10 years in prison this week for molesting a 10-year-old girl. Renol Andrew Prince, 36, of Cartersville, pleaded guilty to three counts of child molestation in Bartow Superior Court, according to the Daily Tribune News.

The judge said the victim told police that Prince, 36, touched her inappropriately and made her touch him.

The defendant was previously convicted of a sexual offense in Texas. In that case, Circuit Judge D. Scott Smith said the victim was a mentally disabled 19-year-old, believed to have the functioning capabilities of a kindergartner, according to the Daily Tribune News.

That victim became pregnant and this alerted authorities to the situation.

Prince has been held in pretrial detention at the Bartow County Jail for the last 10 months. He will receive credit for time served.

“You have recognized the fact that you have made a mistake and that you do have a problem and it needs to be worked on,” Smith said, according to the Daily Tribune News. “In doing so, you’ve probably taken the first step in realizing that you’re going to have to spend the rest of your life addressing this issue.”

Prince was initially indicted on one count of aggravated sexual battery, three counts of child molestation and one count of attempt to commit child molestation. Prosecutors ultimately agreed to drop the first and last counts as part of the plea deal, which eliminated a life sentence as a possible punishment.

Smith sentenced Prince to 20 years — with the first 10 to serve and the remainder on probation — on the first child molestation count. He received an identical, concurrent sentence for the second count, with the third count resulting in a consecutive 10-year probation sentence, according to the newspaper.

Prince was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and obey sex offender probation conditions, including having no physical contact with minors whatsoever.