FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
November 14, 2013
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Alabama Attorney General
Claire Haynes (334) 242-7351
Page 1 of 1
AG STRANGE ANNOUNCES SENTENCING
FOR 1996 RAPE IN COVINGTON COUNTY
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Luther Strange announced that a man
was sentenced today for the second-degree rape of a 15-year-old girl in 1996 in
Covington County. Milton Darrell Freeman was sentenced in Covington County
Circuit Court to 65 months imprisonment, which was suspended for a term of five years
supervised probation. He was ordered to pay court costs and fees and a $100 fine to the
Alabama Victims Compensation Commission. He was further ordered to have no
contact with his victim and to avoid contact with girls aged under 18 years except for
family members. He is required to register as a sex offender and abide by requirements
of sex offender laws. Freeman, now 41, is listed on court records as a resident of
Cottondale, FL.
“After many years, justice has been achieved for the young victim who suffered
from the criminal acts of this man,” said Attorney General Strange. “There is no statute
of limitations for sex crimes against children, and it is appropriate that this man will
finally be held to account and punished for the harm he caused.”
Although the crime was not immediately prosecuted due to family concerns at
the time, the victim later came to the Attorney General’s Office and asked for the case to
be reopened. Evidence included the victim’s complaint that her brother-in-law had
raped her, the defendant’s admission in a statement to the Department of Human
Resources that he had sexual intercourse with the victim when she was 15, and his later
admission in a 2007 custody trial that he had touched her in private areas of her body.
Following a thorough investigation of the matter, the Attorney General’s Office
presented evidence to a grand jury in 2011, resulting in Freeman’s indictment. When
confronted by a prosecutor at trial with evidence of his earlier statements, he admitted
to the crime. Freeman was convicted by a jury in Covington County Circuit Court on
August 22.
Attorney General Strange commended those involved in bringing this case to a
successful conclusion, noting in particular Special Agents of his Investigations Division,
Assistant Attorney General Stephanie Billingslea and Paralegal Lori Arnold of his
Criminal Trials Division.
–30–
501 Washington Avenue Montgomery, AL 36104 (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us
