Seven-year sentence announced in child death case

An Oconee County man was ordered to prison for seven years after pleading guilty to unlawful neglect of a child.  Ronald Glenn Christen was arrested in 2019 after a one-year old child, Rhyder Peay, was discovered dead October 1, 2019 at 374 Bright Eyes Drive, Westminster. The sentence handed down last week in the General Sessions Court requires Christen to be placed on five years’ probation once his prison sentence finishes.  The sheriff’s office responded to the Westminster area address to investigate a child in distress.  An autopsy determined Rhyder died of blunt force trauma and the death was ruled a homicide by the coroner.