A jury convicted a man Tuesday of molesting a girl in a parked car last December while her mother shopped.
Sentencing for Tavins Lee Adams, 41, Nevils-Groveland Road, will be held at a later date, said Statesboro Police Det. Terry Briley. Adams was found guilty of child molestation, aggravated child molestation, sodomy and enticing a child for indecent purposes during a jury trial Tuesday before Bulloch County Superior Court Judge William Woodrum.
Adams was in a car in the Statesboro Wal-Mart parking lot Dec. 30, 2005, with an 11-year-old girl who was once his niece by marriage, Briley said.
Off-duty Statesboro Police Officer Jeff Thompson pulled into a parking space next to Adams and saw him molesting the child, he said. Statesboro Police Chief Stan York was also in the vicinity and witnessed the situation, he said.
The girl, whose aunt was once married to Adams, is mentally challenged and has known Adams, also known by the name "Cowboy," all her life, he said. "The child is receiving appropriate treatment" for the emotional trauma she may have received due to the incident, Briley said.
The girl's mother, aunt and the girl's younger sister were all inside the store when the incident occurred, and since there had been no previous incident reported or any suspicious acts observed, there was no reason for the adults to be concerned about leaving the juvenile in Adam's care, he said.
Adams is being held in the Bulloch County Jail without bond awaiting sentencing, he said.
Sentencing for Tavins Lee Adams, 41, Nevils-Groveland Road, will be held at a later date, said Statesboro Police Det. Terry Briley. Adams was found guilty of child molestation, aggravated child molestation, sodomy and enticing a child for indecent purposes during a jury trial Tuesday before Bulloch County Superior Court Judge William Woodrum.
Adams was in a car in the Statesboro Wal-Mart parking lot Dec. 30, 2005, with an 11-year-old girl who was once his niece by marriage, Briley said.
Off-duty Statesboro Police Officer Jeff Thompson pulled into a parking space next to Adams and saw him molesting the child, he said. Statesboro Police Chief Stan York was also in the vicinity and witnessed the situation, he said.
The girl, whose aunt was once married to Adams, is mentally challenged and has known Adams, also known by the name "Cowboy," all her life, he said. "The child is receiving appropriate treatment" for the emotional trauma she may have received due to the incident, Briley said.
The girl's mother, aunt and the girl's younger sister were all inside the store when the incident occurred, and since there had been no previous incident reported or any suspicious acts observed, there was no reason for the adults to be concerned about leaving the juvenile in Adam's care, he said.
Adams is being held in the Bulloch County Jail without bond awaiting sentencing, he said.