Two sex-related cases handled by the General Sessions Court

A young man was headed today from the General Sessions Court at Walhalla to start a ten-year prison term for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. The sentence was handed down to Tristan Phelps, a former oil rig worker, who was originally charged with criminal sexual conduct with a minor. Other terms of the sentence place Phelps on the sex offender registry. According to Deputy Solicitor Lindsey Simmons, Phelps will have no chance for parole. On the defendant’s behalf, his lawyer told the judge that he believes his client is not a predator and what happened involving the victim was “a one-time incident.” In a separate case, another man pleaded guilty to the charge of peeping tom. He admitted to the court that in 2018 in a local manufacturing plant bathroom he photographed three of his co-workers who were using stalls without their knowledge. Judge Maddox ordered a three-year prison sentence, suspended to three years probation, placed on the sexual offender registry, and subject to random alcohol or drug tests.