Florence man gets 10 years in sexual assault case
Donnie Wayne Sheffield
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By Morning News Staff Reports
Published: August 21, 2008
FLORENCE — U.S. District Judge Terry L. Wooten has sentenced a Florence man to 10 years in prison — the statutory maximum sentence — in connection with a sexual assault case, according to a press release issued Thursday morning by U.S. Attorney W. Walter Wilkins’ office.
A jury convicted 37-year-old Donnie Wayne Sheffield of being a felon in possession of a firearm in February.
One evening in January 2006, Sheffield began injecting himself with cocaine, then held his girlfriend hostage throughout the night in her home. Armed with a 12-gauge shotgun, Sheffield raped and beat her, then strung a noose from the ceiling and threatened to hang her.
The next morning, the victim convinced Sheffield that if she didn’t show up for work, her coworkers would become suspicious and call the police. Sheffield agreed and allowed her to leave for work. Once at work, the victim and her coworkers contacted Florence police.
Because Sheffield was on parole, officers coordinated with the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services and the U.S. Marshals Service to arrest Sheffield. An arrest team entered the victim’s house, where they arrested Sheffield in a back bedroom. Agents seized the shotgun and the noose, still hanging from a light fixture in the house.
Sheffield was previously convicted in 2001 for a burglary that involved breaking into another girlfriend’s house and beating and holding her hostage. He has other convictions for failure to stop for a blue light, larceny, and distribution of an imitation controlled substance.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rose Mary Parham of the Florence office. It also was investigated by the State Law Enforcement Division and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
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Posted by ( phtanner ) on August 21, 2008 at 8:15 pm
I would like for this newspaper to explain why this man’s conviction in federal court for a felon being in possession of a firearm has been headlined a sexual assault case.
After conducting a search of the criminal warrant information on the Florence County Clerk of Court’s online web page, I cannot discover where this man has ever been charged or convicted of a sexual assault.
The criminal warrant search indicates that this man was charged with criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, kidnapping, and being in the unlawful possession of a weapon on January 11, 2006. He entered a guilty plea to the criminal domestic violence charge on June 16, 2007. The prosecutions for two of the remaining charges were ended, and the unlawful possession charge dismissed by the solicitor on March 27, 2006, obviously for purposes of a federal prosecution.
Allegations of a sexual assault are not grounds for this newspaper reporting to the public that this man received a ten year sentence in a sexual assault case.
While I do not have access to the physical records of the Clerk’s Office, I have confidence in the accuracy of the criminal warrant information published by the Clerk’s Office.
If the records are wrong, and this man was convicted of a sexual assault, I will eat public crow.
If not, this newspaper needs to cease its fear-filled kowtowing and report the news in an accurate manner.
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