Hinson gets 25 years

FLORENCE – A Hartsville man once accused of holding two girls in an underground bunker in Darlington County was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison Friday for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm after a lengthy hearing punctuated by his outbursts.

In addition to the 300-month sentence handed down Friday, 49-year-old Kenneth Glenn Hinson also received five years of probation.

It took the jury about five minutes Nov. 8 to convict Hinson of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced late Friday afternoon after a six-hour hearing.
The sentence followed the emotional testimony of four women who said Hinson sexually assaulted them.

One of Hinson’s nieces told U.S. District Court Judge Terry L. Wooten, who presided over the hearing, that Hinson had raped her when she was just 23 months old and molested her again when she was 11.

Hinson was convicted of criminal sexual conduct in 1991 after he molested an 11-year-old girl. That victim also appeared in court to face Hinson on Friday.

The victim told Wooten that Hinson was supposed to be driving her to school that day, but instead drove into a wooded area, pulled her into the back of his van and raped her at knifepoint. The attack happened just two days before her birthday.

“I said everything I could to get him to stop. I said, ‘I love you. You’re hurting me, please stop,‘“ she said.

After the sentence was handed down, Hinson’s niece said she feels her children and grandchild are safe now.

“The skies have opened up, and there’s a rainbow now,“ she said. “It’s our justice, even though it is a gun charge.“

Hinson’s niece said she testified during the sentencing hearing to protect her family from Hinson.

“I’ve got to protect my grandbaby,“ she said. “I’m fine with 25 years. At least my children will be grown when he gets out. This has been two years of hell.“

Hinson faced two counts each of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, assault and battery with intent to kill and kidnapping in 2006. He faced life in prison if he was convicted of any of the six charges, but a jury found him not guilty in August 2007.

Federal public defender Mike Meetze, who represented Hinson in the federal case, objected to the women being allowed to testify.

Wooten ruled to allow the testimony because it is legal for a judge to take a defendant’s criminal record and the characteristics of his life into consideration before imposing a sentence.

Moments, later as Meetze was addressing the court, Hinson ordered his attorney to “sit down” and said he was “done” with the hearing.

Hinson was arrested after a four-day manhunt that attracted national media attention. Authorities arrested Hinson about a mile from his northern Darlington County home. Hinson had been standing in the backyard of a relative’s home asking for water when the relative called 911.