Sex offender not guilty of dungeon rapes

[almaty 19]

DARLINGTON, South Carolina (AP) -- A jury has found a convicted sex offender accused of raping two teen girls in an underground bunker not guilty of kidnapping, sex crimes and assault with intent to kill.

Kenneth Glenn Hinson, 48, wiped his eyes and mouth and appeared to cry after the jury read its verdict, which followed about four hours of deliberations over two days.

Authorities had charged that Hinson snatched the then-17-year-old girls from their bedroom and dragged them one at a time to the underground room hidden beneath a tool shed, where he raped and bound them with duct tape.

Prosecutors said Hinson expected the girls to die because the room had no air supply.

However, Hinson testified during the six-day trial that the girls had consensual sex with him. He said they made up the story so they would be able to take drugs from the underground room, which he used to store marijuana.

The two young women were not in the courtroom when Hinson was acquitted. Their mothers wept.

If convicted, Hinson had faced a mandatory life sentence without parole under the state's two-strikes law because he was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl in 1991.

The underground room was about the length and width of a mid-sized car with a ceiling about 41/2 feet high. Hinson testified Sunday that he had built the room over two years.

Defense attorney Rick Hoefer spent much of his nearly two-hour closing argument Sunday picking apart what he called inconsistencies in the teens' testimony, including how long it took them to call 911 after their alleged escape and whether they saw Hinson with a gun.

Prosecutors said any discrepancies in their stories might have been a result of the trauma the teens went through.

Hinson was not freed because prosecutors asked that he be held on pending burglary charges.

[eau_xplain 2]

:o

[Dr_LHA 3]

Its called "reasonable doubt".

[KarenCee 3]

Still...even if it *was* consensual...isn't there a statutory rape law in SC?

[almaty 19]

Still...even if it *was* consensual...isn't there a statutory rape law in SC?

yeap, and provide marijuana for sex??

[Ban Hammer 13,345]

Its called "reasonable doubt".

speaking of which, i have jury duty in about 2 weeks. time to practice

fry him!

hang him high!

[Dr_LHA 3]

Still...even if it *was* consensual...isn't there a statutory rape law in SC?

Its only statutory rape in SC if the girl is under 15!

http://www.cga.ct.gov/2003/olrdata/jud/rpt/2003-R-0376.htm

Edited April 23, 2007 by Dr_LHA

[Niels Bohr 72]

Weird. I always thought that it's statutory rape regardless of the girls consented or not.

[Dr_LHA 3]

Weird. I always thought that it's statutory rape regardless of the girls consented or not.

See my post above. They were above the age at which it would be classified statutory rape in South Carolina.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Yes, my computer was delayed before I could see your post. Hmm...Thanks. I'm never going to move to SC, that's for sure.

Edited April 23, 2007 by consolemaster

[KarenCee 3]

Still...even if it *was* consensual...isn't there a statutory rape law in SC?

Its only statutory rape in SC if the girl is under 15!

http://www.cga.ct.gov/2003/olrdata/jud/rpt/2003-R-0376.htm

*note to self -- Do NOT move to South Carolina!*

That's just plain whacked.

[Amby 490]

wow what a crazy story

[Dr_LHA 3]

Still...even if it *was* consensual...isn't there a statutory rape law in SC?

Its only statutory rape in SC if the girl is under 15!

http://www.cga.ct.gov/2003/olrdata/jud/rpt/2003-R-0376.htm

*note to self -- Do NOT move to South Carolina!*

That's just plain whacked.

It wouldn't have been statutory rape in Georgia either, where the age limit is just one year older.

[Peggy 1]

Thats messed up

Now the perv can go do it again

[slim 1,525]

I find it hard to believe that a single man can snatch TWO 17-year-old girls from their bedroom without alerting someone.... and also hard to believe they could be in small room full of marijuana with this guy.... against their will.

Sounds like something straight off of Springer, especially when you take into account the guy went from "OK. You're clear on the rape stuff...." to "but hold on, you've gotta stick around for your burglary stuff now." Seems to me like a bunch of bill-hillies just doing bill-hillie stuff.