By By Marianne Todd/The Meridian Star
Aug. 22, 2001
Harland Craig Renfrow of Meridian is being held on $250,000 bond today after being re-indicted for a June 2000 sexual battery against a 3-year-old girl.
His new trial date is Oct. 1.
The child, now 4 years old, was transported to University Medical Center in Jackson shortly after the attack, and has undergone several surgeries since that time.
Renfrow was originally indicted in November for statutory rape and was scheduled for trial in April. District Attorney Bilbo Mitchell halted the court proceeding when he learned that Renfrow had been indicted on the wrong charge.
While preparing for the case, prosecutors discovered Renfrow allegedly used a foreign object in the attack not part of his body. Investigators had disclosed the use of a "foreign object" when Renfrow was originally arrested and charged with capital rape, two days after the June 10, 2000 attack.
The November indictment for statutory rape was dismissed Aug. 13 after a new grand jury issued the sexual battery indictment.
A sexual battery conviction in Mississippi can carry a prison sentence of up to 30 years, but Mitchell said a life sentence is possible in this case because of the age of the victim.
Renfrow remains in 23-hour lockdown at the Lauderdale County Detention Facility. He was segregated from the jail's general population two weeks after his June 13 arrest after another inmate, Michael Dock, allegedly threw a cooler at him. The injury to Renfrow's head required stitches.
Marianne Todd is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. Call her at 693-1551, ext. 3236, or e-mail her at mtodd@themeridianstar.com.