AG: Hamilton man indicted for violent sex crimes

Strange, Bostick make joint announcement on 2005 cold case

 

 

By ED HOWELL

Staff Writer

 

 

 

HAMILTON  - Johnathan L. Scott, 31, Hamilton, has been indicted in connection with violent sex crimes in a 2005 cold case, Attorney General Luther Strange and Marion County District Attorney Jack Bostick announced on Aug. 20.

 

In a press release from Strange's office, Strange and Bostick said that Scott surrendered on Aug. 20 at the Marion County Sheriff's Office in Hamilton. He was released the same day from the Marion County Jail in Hamilton under a $50,000 bond.

 

If convicted, Scott faces penalties of 10 years to life in prison for each count. All of counts are class A felonies, the release said.

 

Evidence was presented to a Marion County grand jury resulting in Scott's indictment on Aug. 1, the release said. Scott is charged with first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy and first-degree burglary in connection with crimes committed in August of 2005 against a 16-year-old female who was attacked inside her home.

 

An investigation by the attorney general's Cold Case Unit resulted in the charges. The Cold Case unit is operated in partnership with the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.

 

The release said the unit investigates violent sexual crimes that previously had been closed due to lack of investigative leads. This program is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.

 

Strange commended the unit, as well as the Marion County District Attorney's Office, the Hamilton Police Department and the U.S. Marshal's Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force.

 

(When a defendant is charged with a crime, the charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.)