Ex-judge pleads guilty to rape charge

Former Wayne County Justice Court judge Billy Bonner

News Briefs From Across The State

By Monica Land

Victim cleaned for 72-year-old

A former Wayne County Justice Court judge has pleaded guilty to a rape charge.

Former Wayne County Justice Court judge Billy Bonner

Billy T. Bonner entered the plea in Wayne County Circuit Court. Sentencing is scheduled for the March of 2013 term of court.

The 72-year-old Bonner was arrested in July of 2011 after Wayne General Hospital told authorities a 16-year-old rape victim had been brought to the medical facility.

Sheriff John Farrior said the girl was cleaning Bonner's house when the alleged sexual assault occurred.

Bonner remains free on $100,000 bond.

Second woman dies from injuries in wreck

A 71-year-old Prentiss County woman has died of injuries she suffered in a traffic accident on Nov. 2.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol said Betty Turvaville died at the North Mississippi Medical Center where she was being treated following the accident.

Turvaville was the driver of a van that was hit by a dump truck at the intersection of Highway 30 Bypass and County Road 5031 around 7:45 a.m. that Friday.

Thirty-five-year-old Becky A. Hatfield, a passenger in the van, died at the scene of the accident.

The dump truck driver was not injured. The accident remains under investigation.

Tupelo man arrested for child porn possession

A 64-year-old Tupelo man was arrested on charges of child porn possession.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports Larry McClendon was arrested Nov. 2.

His bond was set at $250,000 on Nov. 5.

Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson says the evidence recovered in a search warrant appears to be commercially purchased materials, so it does not appear any local children were harmed.

Nonprofits receive $350K in grants

Nine nonprofit agencies on the Mississippi Gulf Coast will share in $350,000 to continue with recovery and rebuilding from Hurricane Isaac.

The money was donated by Chevron USA to the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, which distributed the funds.

Officials say funds will go for food, clothing and temporary shelter in Harrison, Hancock, Jackson and Pearl River counties. Money also will go toward restoring and rebuilding homes in Pearl River and Jackson counties, where the majority of the flood damage occurred.

The grant recipients and the amount of money each received are: Youth Build/IRD, $153,000; Manna Ministries, $118,000; Hancock County Resource Center, $40,000; United Christian Outreach (Our Daily Bread), $8,000; Samaritan Ministry, $8,000; Christian Care Ministries, $8,000; Feed My Sheep, $5,000; Hancock County Food Pantry, $5,000; and Hope Haven, $5,000.