A night of underage drinking at Neil’s Hideaway in rural Millican leads to some serious consequences for one Navasota teen. A 19-year old has been arrested and charged with sexual assault of a child after he confesses to police he had sex with a 14-year-old; after speaking to a Bryan attorney—there are no shades of gray when it comes to the legal age of consent in the state of Texas.
It is a stigma that last’s a lifetime and has the potential for severe legal consequences.
“It’s a second degree felony which means the range of punishment is all the way up to 20 years in prison,” said Jay Granberry, a partner of Gray Granberry & Jones, Attorneys at Law in Bryan.
If convicted, it is something 19-year-old Jacob Andrew Bohannon, will have to live with after allegedly confessing to police he had sex with a 14-year-old. In May he was arrested on a $50,000 bond and charged with sexual assault of a child.
It is the event that took place right here after the two reportedly left Neil’s Hideaway where police say the two later confessed to a night of underage drinking. According to the police report, the 19-year-old says he asked the 14-year-old girl for sex a total of eight times before it actually happened in the backseat of his mother’s car. And after the sexual encounter, the girl’s father was contacted. Her father arrived at the Walmart parking lot in Navasota to find his daughter passed out in the back of the car.
Her father told deputies, quote: “She was laying on her stomach in the back of a mini-van type of vehicle, passed out and she didn’t have shoes on.”
Bryan Attorney Jay Granberry says the legal age for consent in Texas is 17. There is one exception however, “If it is consensual, the child is at least 14 and the actor is within 36 months, or three years, of the child within age,” explained Granberry.
When questioned whether or not he knew how old the victim was, Bohannon told police, “Almost 15.” If convicted, Bohannon will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life; which, as a sex offender, it will place him in the same category as many other men and women who have been incarcerated for molesting small children. It is a decision that lasted a few moments–but could stick with this teen forever.
The U.S. Department of Justice says there are 220 registered sex offenders in Brazos County.
Filed under: Blogging Tagged: | Arrest, Neil's Hideaway, Sexual Assault
