Plea gets Olanta man 6 months house arrest in CSC case

Posted
A 67-year-old Olanta man will serve 6 months of house arrest with 3 years of probation after his attorney negotiated an Alford plea with prosecutors to forego a trial on charges of criminal sexual conduct. Melvin Mack McElveen of 4161 Turbeville Highway was facing life behind bars for his June 2013 arrest on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor; one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor; and three counts of committing or attempting a lewd act upon a child younger than 16. An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain innocence while entering a guilty plea; McElveen pleaded guilty to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, which carries a maximum 10-year sentence. Fifth Circuit Court Judge Robert Hood accepted the negotiated plea worked out by defense attorney Shaun Kent and Assistant Attorney General Kinli Abee on the second day of the trial at the Clarendon Community Center. As part of the plea, McElveen will not be required to enter his name on the sex offender registry. The negotiated plea -- worked out over the course of several hours -- came about after an abrupt revelation this morning regarding the origin and relevance of a text message purportedly sent from McElveen to the female minor. Before the jury entered court, Kent entered a motion for a mistrial on the grounds a text message allegedly sent from his client to the female minor was not part of the case but was being offered by the state as evidence. "Man you look good," part of the message reads, Kent said, explaining that he was unable to discern how it related to his case. "I was told (by the attorney general's office) 100 percent -- it's going to be utilized." Then Kent leveled the most serious allegation. "It appears the attorney general's office is creating evidence," he said. "It puts us in a very difficult position." That text message, among thousands of pages of discovery, proved to be a point of contention with his client, Kent said, who swore he didn't send it to the female minor. Abee told Hood that text message belonged to a separate case file. Regarding an e-mail she sent to Kent insisting the text would be used, Abee told Hood "it was premature on my part," to include the text as she now had "no firm belief," it was part of the case. "It was no way deliberate behavior to try to mislead the defense," she said. Hood asked if the state knew in which conversation the text belonged. "I don't know for sure, your honor," she replied. Hood mused that if the text was in fact between McElveen and the female minor, the state would have "walked around with it blown up on a billboard," as it was, at the very least, inappropriate. "How, in God's name, do we get around this?," Hood asked. Buying a minor a cell phone would demonstrate attempts at control, manipulation and secrecy, he said, noting the state talked about McElveen buying her a phone in their opening statement. "That's extremely damaging trial information," he said. "We have learned that is not true. Period ... The state has fabricated inculpatory evidence against the defendant." At one point, Hood raised the possibility of issuing a curative instruction to jurors, telling them about "fabricated evidence," and opening the door for Abee to take the witness stand. Several hours later, however, it was a moot point. In summarizing the state's case, Abee said the allegations against McElveen date to 2007, when he would ride around in his truck with the female minor. She said McElveen touched the female minor inappropriately, rubbed his hands on her body, attempted to digitally penetrate her and also attempted genital penetration. She also alleged McElveen rubbed a sex toy on her and told her repeatedly not to tell anyone and that no one would believe her. The female minor eventually told a friend who told her parents, Abee said. His criminal history involved three counts of obstruction of justice in 1976, she said. Kent told Hood that even though McElveen has been under house arrest and is technically entitled to credit for time served, he would waive that time. "He continues to maintain his innocence," Kent said, and was confident a 'not guilty' verdict would've resulted from a trial. As part of the negotiated plea, no further charges against McElveen will be brought regarding other allegations by other parties. "These cases are extremely difficult and that's really an understatement," Hood said, for everyone involved. "They're very emotional and they take a toll on you. They're very hard to work through I hope this provides some level of closure."