SHERIFF’S OFFICE
A 38-year-old defendant was found guilty of every charge against him and sentenced to 50 years to serve in prison at the conclusion of a jury trial that took place in Jones County Superior Court.
The trial of Renardo Antwon Bonner for multiple charges of child molestation and incest started with jury selection Feb. 28 and concluded March 2 with the jury’s verdict, followed by his sentencing.
Bonner was sentenced to 30 years for the charge of enticing a child for indecent purposes, 20 years each for two charges of child molestation, 50 years for one charge of incest and 30 years for a second charge of incest. The counts were ordered to run consecutively for a total of 150 years with the first 50 years served in confinement.
The remainder of the sentence may be served on probation.
Superior Court Amanda Petty presided over the trial, and the case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Cara Fiore, assisted by Jones County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Crystal Murphy. Bonner was represented in the trial by public defender Tom O’Donnell.
Ocmulgee Circuit District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale III announced the verdict on the district’s Facebook page and thanked the Jones County citizens who served on the jury, the Jones County Sheriff’s Office and the team at the District Attorney’s Office.
Fiore reflected on the trial in a March 9 interview at her office. She said the opening statements of the attorneys started Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 28, after jury selection that morning. The state started presenting evidence Wednesday morning and continued through lunch Thursday, which consisted of nine witnesses.
The prosecutor said the witnesses include three of Bonner’s victims and video interviews from the Crescent House. The defense had one witness, the defendant’s mother. The jury received the case for deliberation about 2 p.m. Thursday and took 45-50 minutes to reach its guilty verdict.
Fiore said she was satisfied with the verdict.
“It was just sad. He destroyed his family,” she commented.
Bonner arrest
The Jones County case against Bonner began July 13, 2020, with a report of a sexual assault by a family member pertaining to a juvenile in her care. The complaint was received by JCSO investigators Murphy and Lt. Kenny Gleaton.
The complainant said the victim had been assaulted by Bonner 15 times since November of 2019. Gleaton contacted the Crescent House to set up an interview for the victim the next morning.
Murphy said she spoke with another victim in the parking lot as she was leaving, who was now an adult, but had been sexually assaulted by Bonner while she was a juvenile.
The investigator said a check of the suspect’s criminal history revealed he was a convicted felon who was on parole.
A supplemental report by Murphy following the Crescent House interview stated the suspect started having sexual intercourse with the victim when she was 13 and it had continued. The victim said Bonner told her he would beat her to death if she told anyone what he was doing.
Gleaton spoke with another relative who told him of the suspect’s sexual abuse of other family members.
A July 30, 2020, report by Murphy stated that Bonner was apprehended by U.S. Marshals in Houston County and was interviewed by JCSO investigators the same day. He denied the allegations against him.
