Versailles man sentenced on child molesting charges
Wanda English Burnett - Editor

Jay Ryan White, 46, of Versailles, will be spending the next eight years behind bars. The sentence was pronounced by Circuit Court Judge Carl Taul after he accepted a guilty plea from the offender at a hearing on Tuesday, June 21.

White pled guilty to two counts of Child Molesting, Class C felonies, and one count of Dissemination of Material Harmful to Minors, a Class D felony. He received five years each on the first two counts, with two years suspended. On the second count, he received three years incarceration, all suspended.

The defendant received credit for eight days served. He will have to serve five years of reporting probation upon his release from prison. He was also sentenced at that time to 30 hours community service, ordered to pay court costs and will have to pay $30.00 per month while on probation.

Judge Taul ordered White to pay for counseling for his victims, be responsible for his own counseling fees, and to have no unsupervised contact with children upon his release from incarceration. He will also have to reimburse the county for his attorney fees.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy Prosecutor Lynn Fledderman, with the defendant being represented by his attorney, John Watson. A plea agreement had been worked out with White prior to the hearing. As Judge Taul explained his rights to him he acknowledged that he understood and waived those rights to enter a guilty plea on both charges.

Deputy Prosecutor Fledderman was pleased with the outcome and noted that it's better when young victims do not have to testify in court in these types of cases.

White was remanded to the Ripley County Jail. He was taken from court by Versailles Town Marshal David Adams who investigated the case.

WANDA ENGLISH BURNETT PHOTO

Escorted from the courthouse by Versailles Town Marshal David Adams, convicted felon Jay White will begin serving a ten year sentence he received for child molesting.