Georgia Supreme Court to hear Houston County case related to sex offender registration

The Georgia Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments Monday related to a Houston County conviction of a man for failing to register as a sex offender.

Prentiss Ashon Jackson, who previously pleaded guilty to statutory rape in 2004, failed to register a change of address as required by law when he moved from Warner Robins to Macon.

He was sentenced to six years in prison and 24 years of probation after a jury trial for failing to register as a sex offender.

His attorney, Russell Walker of Perry, argues in court briefs that the indictment was “defective” because it “failed to allege all of the essential elements of the named crime of failure to register as a sex offender.”

But District Attorney George Hartwig countered that if the indictment erred by not including Jackson’s original conviction when charging failure to register as a sex offender, that it was a “harmless error.”

During a court hearing in Houston County before trial, Jackson admitted that he moved to Macon because his home in Warner Robins did not have electricity or water.

The attorneys’ positions were outlined in a summary of cases provided by the state Supreme Court’s public information officer.

The court is expected to make a decision within six months of hearing oral arguments.

This story was originally published January 6, 2017 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Georgia Supreme Court to hear Houston County case related to sex offender registration."