Anthony Eugene Tollison
A former teacher’s aide who pleaded guilty to second-degree rape and distribution of a controlled substance was granted probation Thursday.
“Anthony, I’m placing you on probation for three years,” St. Clair County Circuit Court Judge Charles Robinson told Anthony Eugene Tollison, 29, of Pell City Thursday morning.
Tollison pleaded guilty to second-degree rape and distribution of a controlled substance in October.
Tollison was sentenced to serve five years in prison for the second-degree rape and five years for the distribution of a controlled substance conviction, but has remained free on bond since his arrest.
“I’m familiar with this case as well as any other case I’ve had before,” Robinson told Tollison.
The judge said he made his decision, in part, based on a probation report and letters sent to him by people on behalf of Tollison, supporting his application of probation.
Robinson said when this act happened it didn’t happen at the high school. It happened at a little church. It had nothing to do with his employment as a special needs aide at the Pell City High School.
Robinson said Tollison was fired from his job after these allegations were made.
The judge said Tollison was mentally challenged himself.
“I think if he was in school, he would be in a special needs class,” Robinson said. “I believe he would be terribly mistreated if he were to go to prison.
“I’m going to place you on probation,” he said. “I’ve come to the conclusion justice is best served by putting you on probation.”
He gave Tollison three years of probation on each count against him, to run concurrently.
Robinson said Tollison had consensual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl at the church they both attended.
“However, the law says a girl between 12-16 is not capable of consenting,” Robinson said.
St. Clair County assistant district attorney Carol Boone said in court that the victim did not want Tollison to go to prison for the March 2007 rape.
“He has accepted responsibility for his actions,” Boone told Robinson at Thursday’s hearing. “He has no prior criminal record.”
Tollison was also convicted of selling or furnishing marijuana to a confidential informant at the Hardee’s restaurant parking lot in Pell City on Aug. 3, 2007.
Tollison only asked the judge about his driving privilege and about his sex offender status.
“We appreciate the leniency in this matter,” said Beverly Barber, a defense attorney who represented Tollison in this case.
Robinson warned Tollison to obey the laws of the state and to not hang around unsavory people.
“On condition of probation, I want him to have some kind of counseling,” Robinson told the probation officer in court Thursday.
http://www.teachercrime.com/alabama.html
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