Man convicted of child sex crimes after teachers reported abuse, DA says
By WLOS Staff
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JACKSON COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — A Jackson County man is sentenced to decades behind bars after a jury found him guilty of seven child sex abuse charges, and teachers are credited with cracking the case.
District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said it took jurors only 29 minutes to return a guilty verdict for 40-year-old Johnathon Micah Maney on the following charges:
One count of statutory rape of a child under the age of 13 by an adult. Two counts of statutory sex offense of a child under the age of 13. Four counts of indecent liberties with a child.
According to a news release, the abuse started in 2014 when the child was 9 years old. Assistant District Attorney Chris Matheson said when the victim turned 14, she confided with her teachers that she was suffering from anxiety and panic attacks from the abuse. The teachers then contacted law enforcement.
Welch credited the teachers with cracking the case and stopping the abuse.
“This young girl trusted them with the information about three horrific years of abuse,” Welch said in a news release. “I cannot express strongly enough how important a role educators are playing in our children’s lives. Sometimes, it is lifesaving.”
The DA’s office said Dr. Cynthia Brown, a child abuse pediatric specialist with Mission Children’s Hospital, told jurors about half of victims do not reveal abuse until adulthood.
“The verdict came in exactly three years to the day from when she told the first person,” Hughes said in a written statement dated Aug. 24, 2022. “Now, with school back in session, we are again hearing of child-abuse reports, because teachers are such important people in these kids’ lives.”
Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Bill Coward sentenced Maney to serve a total minimum of 51.3 years to a total maximum of 72.41 years in the Division of Adult Corrections.
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