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Jury convicts Athens child rapist in case sidetracked by Marsy’s Law violation

Michael Lareco Daniel

By Joe Johnson

A Superior Court jury has found an Athens man guilty on all counts for raping a 14-year-old girl three years ago.

The criminal case had involved Georgia's first violation of Marsy's Law, which protects victims rights,

At the conclusion of a four-day trial the jury on Thursday needed just 45 minutes to find 43-year-old Michael Lareco Daniel guilty of rape, aggravated sexual battery, incest, child molestation, battery, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Judge Thomas L. Hodges III imposed a sentence of life plus 50 years in prison.

According to court records, Daniel raped his juvenile victim in 2021, when she was 14 years old. He supplied her with alcohol and drugs, records show, and the battery charge was from him dragging the girl by the hair and striking her in the face and head.

The case was tried by Alcovy Judicial Circuit District Attorney Randy McGinley, who took over after Deborah Gonzalez withdrew due to a violation of Marsy's Law.

Alcovy Circuit District Attorney Randy McGinley

The violation was from Gonzalez previously dismissing the case against Daniel without notifying the victim's family.

The case was subsequently reindicted, with McGinley as the prosecutor.






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shihuttn
Mar 02

Absolutely shameful that our current DA cannot take care of her business. Maybe Clarke County needs to outsource all its tough cases to Alcovy DA’s office. She has got to go


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The victim has received some measure of justice. Justice that was denied by the Western Circuit DA Deborah Gonzalez who violated Marsy’s Law by dismissing the original charges without notifying the defendant and her legal representatives. Gonzalez’s action was illegal and she subsequently lied about doing it. Fortunately the case was moved to another circuit and re-indicted and was prosecuted by a real DA. My hope is that the victim can move forward with her life and find some measure of normalcy. It is also my prayer that voters in the Western District will pull their heads out of their backsides and remove Gonzales from the office that she is clearly not competent to hold.

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This child is FOREVER damaged. And the so-called DA dismissed the case initially. But yet it didn't take a jury a full hour to convict this monster. Absolutely disgusting. Vote Gonzalez out. PUNISH ALL CRIMINALS!!! Committing crime is OPTIONAL!!! No 1st offender. No plea deals. Prosecuting attorneys have your ducks in a row and drop the hammer on ALL who are proven guilty

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Death is the only cure for these sicko's. They sentence the child to a life of misery and confusion.

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