STARKVILLE — John B. Arnold Jr. will spend 55 years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections for attempting to kidnap a former family friend’s child.
Arnold, 48, of Starkville attempted to check out a 6-year-old child from Sudduth Elementary School in February 2018 without the parents’ permission. He attempted again days later, and after his second arrest, assaulted an officer in a failed attempt to break out of Oktibbeha County Jail.
An Oktibbeha County Circuit Court jury found Arnold guilty on Thursday of both attempted kidnapping counts, as well as attempted escape from jail and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. Judge James Kitchens, who is presiding over the case, heard arguments Friday from the state and defense regarding Arnold’s sentence.
After listening to testimonies from both of the child’s parents and phone calls Arnold had with his father while incarcerated, Kitchens decided Arnold will serve 25 years for the first count of attempted kidnapping, 25 years for the second with five years suspended with post-release supervision, five years for the attempted escape and five years for assaulting the officer. All sentences will run consecutively.
The 3.75 years Arnold has already spent in prison will be credited to this sentence, and the earliest he would be eligible for parole is in about 25 years.
“I went into this thinking last night of one sentence, and the sentence was not as severe as the sentence I’m thinking about now, quite honestly,” Kitchens said. “… People think this is a long sentence. It’s probably not long enough for the victims in this case because I don’t know how much time you have to serve.”
Defense attorney Amanda Meadows of Columbus told Kitchens that while Arnold did commit these crimes, she believed he only deserved the minimum sentence — which would have been about 20 years cumulative for all counts — because these are his first felony charges. She also claimed he had mental issues at the time of the crimes to which Kitchens said did not concern him because there was no evidence to back up those claims.
“This is a man that while these charges are serious and the convictions obviously stand a significant amount of time, we feel that anything significant would violate a proportionality agreement, specifically to the facts that have been put into evidence,” Meadows said.
Assistant District Attorney Trina Brooks played several recordings of phone conversations between Arnold and his father to Kitchens which she said shows Arnold has no remorse for his actions.
The recordings demonstrated Arnold saying several questionable statements such as wanting to get his charges changed from felonies to misdemeanors so he can own a gun in the future and liquidating all of his assets once he gets out of jail. He also used vulgar language about the child’s mother and Meadows, calling her a “horse s*** public defender.”
The child’s mother and father are divorced.
In the child’s father’s sentencing testimony, he recalled having to change his entire life schedule, along with the child’s mother, to ensure the safety of his children. He said a top priority of things you do not mess with in other people’s lives is their children.
“I remember when (Sgt. John Michael Lay) called me, and I was headed to Alabama, and he said, ‘Where are you? Johnny’s on the loose,’” the father said. “He said, ‘Don’t tell me where you are, but are you out of town?’ And, I said yes. For the next hour and a half, I was driving down the highway crying in (the) car with my kids in the backseat until they found him.”
While Arnold is not required to pay a fine for his crimes, Kitchens said after Arnold is released from prison, he is to have no contact with the family, never own a gun and must notify an officer every time he is in Oktibbeha County. Kitchens said he hopes Arnold’s 55-year-long sentence will give him remorse for his actions and rehabilitation.
“First and foremost, you will have no contact with this family at all,” Kitchens said to Arnold. “The reason I am giving you these sentences is because I want to let the children grow up to be adults, and I don’t have to worry about you as much. Hopefully, you will be old enough that either you will be too infirmed to come over here and cause trouble or maybe sitting somewhere in prison for this length of time may allow something in your brain to realize that maybe this is your fault and nobody else’s.”
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