Genarlow Wilson

Georgia Supreme Court Releases Genarlow Wilson From Prison

The Georgia Supreme Court has ordered the sudden release of Genarlow Wilson who was sentenced to 10 years in the Georgia state penitentiary for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old when he was 17.

In a 4-3 decision today, the Court ruled that the sentence for Wilson is cruel and unusual punishment. Wilson has already spent two years in prison.

Genarlow Wilson, 21, was convicted in 2005 when he was 17 of aggravated child molestation for oral sex with a 15-year-old girl during a 2003 New Year's Eve party at a Douglas County hotel. The sex act was videotaped. The former high school football player was acquitted of raping another 17-year-old girl at the same party.

The law that gave him the decade-long sentence was later changed by the Georgia Legislature to make such conduct between consenting teens a misdemeanor punishable by no more than a year in prison and no sex offender registration. However, the law was not made retroactive so it did not apply to Wilson.