Madison-Rankin District Attorney Michael Guest issued the following press release:
Rankin County Man Convicted of Sexual Battery of a Seven Year Old Child
Madison and Rankin Counties’ District Attorney Michael Guest announced today that Joshua Lane Magee was convicted by a jury of sexual battery involving a seven year old child. Magee was sentenced to serve forty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The last fifteen years of the sentence will be suspended and Magee will be placed on five years of supervised probation following his release. The unsuspended portion of his sentence will be served in its entirety without the possibility of probation, parole, or early release. Upon release from custody, Magee must register as sexual offender.
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| Joshau Magee |
During the forensic interview conducted by the CAC, the child disclosed that Magee had inappropriately touched her and then forced her to engage in sexual contact with him.
Law enforcement officers arrested Magee and transported him to the Brandon Police Department to question him about the allegations. Magee was advised of his rights and agreed to speak to detectives. Magee admitted to being alone with the child but denied they had any sexual contact.
Guest stated, “Magee is a sick individual who used his position of trust to prey upon a seven year old child. This child had the courage not only to report what Magee had done to her, but also to testify before a jury about his actions. Her testimony along with the outstanding work of the Brandon Police Department provided the jury with the evidence they needed to return a verdict of guilty.”
Guest concluded, “This conviction and sentence has allowed us to remove a child predator from our streets. Magee will now spend the next quarter of a century behind bars paying his debt to society for the crimes he committed. I hope that the jury’s verdict and the sentence imposed will help bring closure to this child and her family.”
District Attorney Michael Guest was sworn into office in January 2008 and represents the Twentieth Judicial District, Madison and Rankin Counties. For more information regarding the District Attorney’s office, please visit www.daguest.com. Please follow us on Facebook, www.daguest.com or download or app.
Defendant:
Name: Joshua Demien Magee
Address: 100 Alex Seals Lane, Brandon
DOB: May 14, 1983
8 comments:
I fear the active imagination of children.
I fear people who doubt children when they have the courage to tell. -someonewithsense
I wonder why the press rekease didn't mention medical evidence.
Right, 12:35.....seven year old children commonly 'imagine' being forced to perform blow-jobs, something they've never witnessed, heard about or participated in. Get back to your NAAMBLA pamphlets.
@ 7:00 PM
You've never heard of the McMartin pre-school case and countless other cases across the country during a tidal wave of sexual abuse allegations which swept the country like the Salem Witch Trials? The truth is, as any parent knows, children lie about many things and have information of many things you wouldn't think they would or should. Regrettably, leading and coaxing by adults sometimes fills in the blanks. A good read on this subject would be "The Trial: A History, from Socrates to O. J. Simpson" by Sadakat Kadri.
I don't know the details of this case and must assume and hope the jury got it right and the evidence amounted to more than presence with a child and an allegation of sexual abuse.
In general these cases are extremely problematic for the legal system due to the inherent public bias regarding these cases and the rule making and evidentiary changes specific to these sorts of cases.
In a legitimate effort to correct the under-reporting and prosecution of such cases in the 70's and 80's, changes to the rules of evidence may have swung the pendulum to the point where there's gross over charging. Everyone's aware of the case where an allegation of sexual abuse surfaces in the context of a heated domestic dispute among adults which spills over to consume the children. Mere accusation leads inexorably towards guilt and even if acquitted, your life is ruined.
Factor in the complete absence of forensic evidence in many such cases, the admission of questionable "scientific" or "expert" evidence, and an inherent evidentiary bias towards admitting hearsay which would never see the light of day in other cases and you have a systemic problem.
There's no room for smug self-satisfaction in any area of the law, but this area is particularly unsuited to uncritical and reflexive perceptions based on nothing more than wishful thinking and anecdote.
The McMartin preschool case.
The Duke lacrosse team
The UVA fraternity charges.
All of those accused had their lives ruined over accusations of something that we later learned NEVER HAPPENED. Cases like this demand scrutiny. I wish there was some assurance that there was stronger evidence than what has been available through the press.
If he did it, hang him. I mean it. Public square, let potential child molesters see what is in store if they act on their deviant urges.
But I notice of all the Duke faculty, the UVA faculty, who all condemned the innocent students based on the initial, unproven, allegation - none have come forward to admit what a horrendous mistake they made.
This area of law requires strict scrutiny and public disclosure of evidence (except revealing the victim's name).
I have worked with Children's Advocacy Centers of MS and they are good at what they do. They provide a non threatening environment to interview children, and they are trained in how to ask questions in a non leading way in order to ascertain the truth.
Wow. Some of the comments here I find quite disturbing. A child's active imagination? Really? Yeah, let's blame it on the seven year old. Good Lord, talking about sickos.
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