Man who was tape recorded gets five years in prison

Natasha Adams Clay said the case of her brother molesting her daughter three years ago has caused her to change her pursuit of a college degree to criminal justice.

Justin Ryan Adams, 22, of 4533 Wilson Road in Cohutta, pleaded guilty to one count of child molestation in June and was sentenced on Friday in Whitfield County Superior Court to serve five years in prison and 15 years on probation. Judge Cindy Morris also levied fines and standard sex offender restrictions on Adams.

“I’m glad that we got some justice, and I’m glad that the whole situation is over and we don’t have to wait and live our lives around that anymore,” said Clay, who grew frustrated with the investigation of her brother and eventually taped a phone conversation with an alleged confession she said she turned over to the district attorney’s office.

“I’ve been juggling (my daughter) going to therapy and all that, and hopefully she can just move on and progress and be OK,” she said.

Clay was asked if her daughter is progressing with therapy.

“She’s actually a lot better, she’s 11 now and does a lot better with the therapist,” she replied. “I drive her to Kennesaw every week and that’s not an easy thing to do — it’s changed all our lives and I’m just glad it’s going to be over.”

Clay said she still has mixed feelings about taping her brother, who wore an ankle monitor while a student at Georgia Southern University after bonding out following his arrest.

“I hate that I had to do that, but in my mind I had to do whatever it took,” she said. “Because that was something that goes on way too much, and I think a lot of people try to shove it aside and hide it and not try to deal with it ... awareness needs to be brought out about this.”

In the end, Clay said it “wasn’t something I could let go.”

“I’m going to school and I’ve changed my degree to criminal justice to try and understand better why things are the way they are,” she said. “I realize now that evidence is hard to get and the circumstances — in our case, my daughter was afraid to tell anybody — I just think these cases need some special attention.”

Clay said she has started a Facebook page called “MAMMY,” which stands for Mothers Against Mistreating and Molesting Our Youth.

“My aunt is going to help me make it a nonprofit organization that does things like fund the GreenHouse (a counseling and therapy center for young sexual abuse victims) and the puppet show that came to our school — that’s how (my daughter) told about the abuse,” she said. “One day I’d like to work in victim witness programs or something like that and help these kids. It’s affected me and changed me a lot as well. At first I was upset and determined and on edge but now I understand more about it. At the same time, if I hadn’t got that recording we never would have got anything, and that’s really upsetting. Hopefully that would be upsetting to other parents as well.”

Clay said she had “praise” for Assistant District Attorney Ben Kenemer, former assistant district attorney Steve Spencer, sheriff’s office investigator Glenn Swinney and Brenda Hoffmeyer of the victims’ assistance program in the DA’s office.

“It was really hard and really frustrating in the beginning and I had to get to a point where I had to work with them,” she confided. “But they know what they’re doing and they got what we wanted and what we were seeking and what we were looking for.”

‘A good person’

Adams’ attorney, Mike Corbin, said he hoped for a lighter sentence given the passage of time since the incident occurred.

“I guess it was as good as he could get under the circumstances,” Corbin said. “I certainly would have hoped he had gotten something better since it happened so long ago, but nevertheless he was sentenced as a youthful offender and that may be helpful to him.”

Corbin was asked the difference between “youthful offender” status and “first offender.”

“It’s totally different,” he responded. “First offender allows them to clear their record after doing a bit of time on probation — if they complete it with no problem. A youthful offender (sentencing guideline) is just a recommendation for the (state) Department of Corrections to kind of give him some rehabilitation work and give consideration to his age for some sort of rehabilitation moreso than punishment. So it gives him an opportunity to be placed in an area where he can be rehabilitated because he has no prior problems ... he’s been a good person and been out of trouble and this is the only problem he’s got.”

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Man who was tape recorded gets five years in prison

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