No prison time for a first-time offender

The Oconee General Sessions’ judge spared a young man from prison in spite of his guilty plea to a sex crime. From the defense lawyer and the man’s parents, Judge Sprouse heard an explanation that a decision by defendant Daniel Eugene Taylor to open a link on a chat web site that revealed child porn was a one-time offense and he was made gullible by what he heard on the chat.  “He is a really good kid”, stepmother Lisa Taylor told Judge Scott Sprouse.  A member of the state attorney’s general office prosecuted the case, but made no sentence recommendation.  Sprouse handed down a sentence of 10 years in prison, suspended to 21 days served in jail, five years’ probation, and a prohibition that he may not use the internet.  Taylor’s parents said they won’t allow him the use of a cell phone and should he need to make a call, they’ll allow him the use of theirs.  Taylor’s guilty plea lands him on the state’s registry of sex offenders.