A Mill Spring man will spend at least the next 12 years in prison for molesting two children, according to a release from the office of District Attorney Greg Newman.

James Dean Huff, of Highway 108, Mill Spring, was sentenced to prison for 233 months (19 years, five months) by Superior Court Judge Athena Brooks during the last Polk County Superior Court term, which ended Oct. 10 in Columbus. The man was sentenced for three counts of first-degree statutory sex offense, offenses he had pleaded guilty to.

Huff will be eligible for release after serving a minimum sentence of 144 months (12 years).

The counts against Huff stem from him molesting two children in 2017. The case was investigated by both the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Polk County Department of Social Services.  

Huff admitted to investigators that he engaged in illegal sexual contact with two children, ages 5 and 7.  He knew the children and had been a babysitter at various times.

Two other Polk County residents received prison sentences Oct. 10.

Phillip Brian Hicks, of Rock Springs Road, Mill Spring, pleaded guilty to attempted breaking and entering and was sentenced as a habitual felon to 58 months (four years, 10 months) in prison. The investigation by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office showed that Hicks was found in possession of a stolen firearm and an antique ceramic flower pot reported stolen from a residence in Mill Spring.

He will be eligible for release after serving 38 months (three years, two months).

Tremayne Rayshawn Sutton, of Highway 176, Tryon, pleaded guilty to obtaining property by false pretenses for defrauding the Polk County food stamp program.  

For six years, Sutton received public benefits in the form of food stamps by lying about his employment. He worked regularly for the same employer and received assistance that he was ineligible to obtain and use.  

Sutton also lied to social service officials about the number of people living in his household.

Judge Brooks sentenced Sutton to 20 months in prison (one year, eight months), but suspended the sentence and ordered that Sutton reimburse the taxpayers of Polk County $23,715. 

District Attorney Newman’s office was represented by Assistant District Attorneys Robert Brackett and J.J. Sauve.

“I applaud the coordination between law enforcement and my office in these three matters,” Newman said. “We were able to move the cases through district court and then present them in superior court to the Polk County Grand Jury in a relatively short period of time.  It is good that these three defendants took responsibility for their actions, but we were prepared to select juries in their individual cases had they requested trials.  

“In the cases of Huff and Hicks, I hope we have provided the victims some closure and a measure of justice. In Sutton’s matter, we felt strongly that restitution to the people of Polk County should be pursued.”

The next superior court term is scheduled for the week of Nov. 26.