Steven Glenn, 70, was sentenced to the maximum possible sentence after having been found guilty by a Murray County jury of six counts of child molestation.
Glenn was charged with nine counts of child molestation against three victims and was tried by a Murray County jury in a trial that began June 3. The trial was presided over by Superior Court Judge Jim Wilbanks. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Dixon Lackey with assistance from Murray County Sheriff’s Office Detective Brad Hall, the lead investigator on the case.
District Attorney Victim Advocates Ashlyn Elrod and Cleopatra Velasquez prepared the case for trial. The defendant, Glenn, was represented by local attorney Anna Johnson. After a weeklong trial, Glenn was found guilty on June 7 of six of the nine counts, which included at least one count of molestation against each of three victims.
The evidence showed that between January 2014 and March 2023, Glenn committed acts of molestation on three children ranging in age from seven to fourteen years of age. Two other women testified that Glenn had molested them when they were under ten years old as well. The jury heard from the victims in court and through recorded, forensic interviews conducted by the GreenHouse Child Advocacy Center in Murray County and the Gordon County Child Advocacy Center. The children all testified that each had been alone with Glenn when the acts were committed.
In addition to the three children and two adult survivors of Glenn’s abuse, the jury heard testimony from five other witnesses, including Murray County Sheriff’s Office Detective Brad Hall, forensic interviewers and each of the persons to whom the victims initially disclosed. The State also presented evidence from Mary Smith of the Family Support Council, who testified as an expert in child sexual abuse.
After hearing from the state’s witnesses, the jury heard testimony from witnesses for the Defendant, including his family members. The defense also recalled one of the victims and Detective Hall. The jury deliberated for approximately four hours before returning a unanimous guilty verdict on six counts of child molestation.
The sentencing hearing was held June 19. Glenn faced a maximum of 120 years, as each of the six counts of child molestation is punishable by five to twenty years in prison. The law requires at least one year be served on probation. At sentencing, Judge Wilbanks heard from one of the victims, and a member of the defendant’s family who had also testified at trial. Judge Wilbanks sentenced Glenn to the maximum of 20 years on each count to run consecutive to each other for a total term of 120 years. Judge Wilbanks ordered that 119 of those years be served in confinement, followed by the required one year on probation.
Submitted by the Conasauga Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s office.