Ronald McKelvey Carter

La Plata, MD – These are sad days in Charles County Circuit Court. In yet another sexual abuse of a minor case before H. James West Monday, Aug. 22, Ronald McKelvey Carter, 72 of North Myrtle Beach, SC, was sentenced to 10 years with all but 180 days suspended to be served at the Charles County Detention Center.

The verdict brought tears from the defendant’s wife and once again, what West aptly described as “a sad case” was indeed that.

Defense Attorney Rudolf A. Carrico Jr. told the judge that his client was 72 years old, had difficulty hearing and understanding.

He called Dr. Scott Smith of Arnold, MD to testify that Carter, a veteran of three combat tours in Vietnam, has difficulty expressing himself.

“He has a hard time making himself understood,” Smith said. “There is no history of sexual perversions in his background. His history is completely clean. There isn’t a single complaint of wanting to have sex with children. There is no indication he has any leaning in that direction. He has very traditional values.”

Smith said Carter probably had difficulty during the police interview April 19, 2015, during a family gathering after he allegedly asked his 11-year-old grandson to “go into the bathroom to have some fun” while jiggling his penis from outside his shorts.

“It was a crowded hotel room, he has difficulty expressing himself,” Smith said. “The situation was ripe for uncertainty and confusion.”

Charles County Assistant State’s Attorney Constance Kopelman countered with the victim’s mother, who admitted to West that she was a victim of molestation from a family member when she was young.

“I said it was never going to happen to my child,” she said. “We love this man. He’s in our family. But he betrayed us. He broke our family.”

Kopelman called Carter’s actions a “betrayal of trust.

“So he’s 72 years old, so what?” she said. “He committed the crime.”

Carrico said his client has prostate problems and was jiggling his penis because he has a hard time “vacating,” and that the child may have “over-exaggerated” what he saw. He said if put in jail, Carter could lose his retirement benefits.

“There’s no evidence he’s going to lose his benefits,” Kopelman stated. “Look it up.”

“I did look it up,” Carrico responded. “Jail can have a tremendous impact on his family.”

Carter’s wife begged West not to put her husband in jail.

“I have to go into the hospital for surgery,” she said. “I don’t want to go through that without my husband.

“There’s just a lot I don’t understand,” she added. “I lost my entire family because of this.”

“The offender violated a position of trust,” West stressed. “There is very little I can do here.”

He handed down the 10 year sentence with all but six months suspended and told Carter’s wife that he would allow her husband out of jail so that he can be with her during surgery.

He added that Carter would have to register as a Tier 3 sex offender and would be on five years of supervised probation upon his release.

He was given one day credit for time served.

“This was a hard one,” West concluded.

Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com