Hanner Receives Maximum Sentence

By Glenn Collins
Monday, December 19, 2011 | 12:00 AM
https://hbtv.us/news/?story_id=980

Jason Tyrone Hanner, 33, of Bear Creek was sentenced Thurday to 20 years in prison for the 2010 rape of a 15-year-old girl.

He was convicted last month in the Circuit Court of Winston County of the offense of Rape in the Second Degree. The verdict came at the end of a one-day jury trial before Circuit Judge Lee Carter. Jury deliberations lasted approximately sixteen (16) minutes.

Deputy District Attorney Neal Cook said that two witnesses were called at the sentencing hearing, a Hanner relative and her daughter. The Hanner family member testified that Hanner had made sexually suggestive comments to her 12-year-old daughter. The daughter detailed an incident at a water park when she was with an eight-year-old female friend. She stated that on that occasion Hanner made an offensive remark about the lower portion of the younger friend's body.

Cook said, "Based on Mr. Hanner's history of attraction to under aged females, it is clear that he poses a continuing threat if he is allowed to roam free. Judge Carter's sentence will delay this danger for a very long time. I am greatly pleased that Judge Carter imposed the maximum sentence allowed by law."