Covington man pleads guilty to child molestation, other charges, gets life sentence

NEWTON COUNTY, Ga. — For the second time, a Covington man pled guilty to charges of child molestation and other sex crimes.

The Newton County District Attorney’s Office announced that 55-year-old Ronnie Maxwell entered a guilty plea to a variety of charges related to sexual assault and child molestation. As it was his second indictment for sex offenses, he now faces a lifetime in prison.

The DA’s office said Maxwell faced 16 different charges and was scheduled for an Aug. 12 trial.

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On Thursday, Maxwell pled guilty to the 16 charges in his indictment, the second time he’d been indicted on crimes of child molestation and related offenses.

In 2003, the DA’s office said Maxwell had pled guilty to multiple counts of aggravated child molestation, child molestation, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and tampering with evidence after abusing two 11-year-old victims. The DA’s office said a third victim had been identified for the 2003 case as well.

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Maxwell’s 2003 conviction got him a 30-year sentence, with 15 in confinement, and he was required to register as a sex offender, the DA’s office said.

Another child victim came forward in 2021, prompting an investigation by the Newton County Sheriff’s Office, which found another victim in the process. The DA’s office said the current case’s victims were six and three years old at the time of the abuse in 2021.

When members of law enforcement started looking for Maxwell, he led them on a high-speed chase before running from them on foot, later being arrested in Tennessee.

According to the DA’s office, Maxwell was charged with rape, aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, enticing a child for indecent purposes, criminal attempt to commit aggravated sodomy, child molestation, failure to register as a sex offender, felony fleeing a police officer, driving with a suspended license and reckless driving.

He pled guilty to all of the charges and was sentenced to life in prison.

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