Owens sentenced to prison

Carl Steve Owens, age 61, a Cherokee County man, was sentenced in the Cherokee County Superior Court Thursday June 26, 2008 to a total active prison sentence of a minimum of 228 months and a maximum of 283 months (19 years to 23 years 7 months) to be served in the North Carolina Department of Corrections.

Owens was convicted by a Cherokee County Jury after a three day trial which began Tuesday June 24, 2008. The jury deliberated Thursday for 55 minutes before returning their verdict of guilty to "First Degree Statutory Sex Offense". Superior Court Judge Dennis Winner imposed the sentence.

District Attorney Mike Bonfoey stated, "My Assistant District Attorneys, Melissa Jackson and Jason Smith did an excellent job in preparing and trying this case. ADAs Jackson and Smith spent many hours preparing the case for trial. This was not an easy case to prosecute. My office and my assistants fought for this victim in order to obtain justice for the victim of this terrible crime."

The crime was committed by Owens between March and July of 2004. The victim was 9 years old on the dates she was molested. Owens would lure the victim over to his residence by playing computer games with her and then he molested her. Cherokee County Sheriff's Deputies Roger Williams and Jerry Crisp were the lead investigators.

District Attorney Mike Bonfoey stated, "I commend the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office and the two deputies directly involved for their work on this case. This prosecution could not have been successful without a joint effort by my office and Sheriff Keith Lovin's office to work hard to put all of the evidence together."