CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – An Horry County court sentenced a Longs man to life in prison Wednesday for invading a home and raping a teen.
Jeremy Williams was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct; first-degree burglary; first-degree assault and battery; armed robbery; kidnapping; and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, according to the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Williams was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the burglary charge and the kidnapping charge, 30 years in prison each for the sexual assault and armed robbery charges; 10 years in prison for the assault charge and five years for the weapons charge.
The sentences will run concurrently.
The incident occurred on August 11, 2016, when four men broke into a Longs home and held two boys, ages 8 and 12, and a 16-year-old girl at gunpoint while they burglarized the home. Two of the men, including Williams, sexually assaulted the teen according to the Solicitor’s Office.
DNA evidence identified Williams in the incident with the children and teen also identifying him.
Mary-Ellen Walter, the senior assistant solicitor prosecuted the case along with Leigh Andrew, an assistant solicitor. They say they sought life without parole for the kidnapping and burglary charges because Williams had a previous criminal record that included a 2006 conviction for voluntary manslaughter. Williams was sentenced to 13 years for that charge and was released from prison in December 2015.
“He committed this crime and changed the lives of these victims forever,” Walter said and asked for the maximum sentences for the charges. “Life without parole is the only just sentence. . . . I’m thankful to the victims for having the courage to testify and to Horry County Police Department especially Detective Brian Wilson, and the State Law Enforcement Division for their investigations.”