SPARTANBURG COUNTY MAN RECEIVES 13-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR SEX ASSAULT ON A MINOR

A Spartanburg County man received a 13-year prison sentence today after he admitted to having sexual relations with a 12-year-old girl.

Jimi D. Parker, 19, pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor before Circuit Judge Mark Hayes.

The victim told Spartanburg County sheriff’s deputies he forced her to have sex relations on two occasions between Nov. 15 and Dec. 17, 2004. The encounters occurred at a Campobello-area home. Parker is a distant relative of the victim.

Parker acknowledged the crime during a police interview. He told an investigator that he considered the incident to be consensual sex.

Assistant Solicitor Tony Leibert strongly disagrees with Parker’s logic.

“The age of consent in South Carolina is 16-years-old,” Leibert said. “If you have sex with an underage person, you are breaking the law. There is no other way to explain it.”

Parker no prior criminal record. He will serve 85 percent of the prison sentence before he is eligible for release. After his release from prison, he will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.