After pleading guilty to two rapes, described as “monstrous acts” by a Monroe county judge, Jerald Honeycutt will serve 30 years in prison.
In June 2015, Honeycutt raped a 73-year-old woman. During the crime, Honeycutt made threats with a boxcutter and penetrated the victim vaginally, anally and orally. The woman notified police with her life alert button.
The 30-year sentence pertains to this crime as well as a rape committed in 1999, to which Honeycutt was linked in 2015 by DNA evidence.
Honeycutt admitted to wrapping his arm around the neck of a woman in her early 60s and telling her she wouldn’t be hurt if she complied with his demands. He then had her hold his erect penis, and raped her vaginally.
The first 22 and a half years will be for the 2015 rape, and the latter 7 and a half years for the 1999 rape. Honeycutt will also serve 10 years of probation upon release. If he violates his probation, he will be sentenced to another 10 years in prison.
Prosecutor Darcie Fawcett said the victim from the 1999 case told Fawcett, while in tears, Honeycutt didn’t break her and she stood up to him.
“I hope she is an inspiration to victims elsewhere,” Fawcett said.
Last week, Honeycutt requested to change his guilty plea at a sentencing hearing for the two rapes.
In the rescheduled hearing on Thursday, Honeycutt’s lawyer, Jeremy Noel, explained Honeycutt’s level of intoxication during the assault in June prevents him from remembering the use of a boxcutter. Since he cannot remember, he argued Honeycutt couldn’t have accurately pleaded guilty to having a boxcutter during the assault
Fawcett challenged the change of plea in support of the two victims, who she said suffered emotional trauma from the potential change.
“The victim left me an intense and emotional voicemail,” Fawcett said. “She sounded very much like it was after the assault.”
Judge Marc Kellams explained the defendant already had his chance to seek trial and claim innocence, but instead he took advantage of a plea deal that included admitting guilt to both charges. Kellams rejected the change of plea because there was no legal basis.
“These are brutal crimes,” Kellams said. “One (victim) in a walker, for God’s sake. It seems he changed his mind, but it’s too late.”
Fawcett said she was pleased by this ruling and is relieved the victims wouldn’t have to relive their attack.
After the decision to reject the plea change, Kellams moved to discussing sentencing for Honeycutt. He began by listing several of Honeycutt’s past crimes and charges, including burglary, criminal mischief, domestic battery and child molestation.
Kellams said this history gave the judge and prosecution sufficient evidence to request and approve of an aggravated sentence for Honeycutt. An aggravated sentence means the court is allowed to take circumstances and information about the offender into account and not just the crime.
Honeycutt acted confused by the sentence and asked to see the plea agreement, but the judge didn’t change his stance and kept the sentencing as it was. The only reason Kellams said he didn’t allow the trial to proceed was to avoid putting the victims through trial.
“If I could I would keep you locked up for the rest of your life,” Kellams said.
