A 64-year-old Warner Robins man will spend 19 years in prison and a final year on probation after pleading guilty Monday to child molestation and sexual exploitation of a child, just moments before jury selection was set to begin in Houston County Superior Court. Leroy Davis Layton admitted to abusing a 10-year-old who lived in his home with an adult family member, in a case prosecutors say stretched on for nearly two years before it was discovered.
Superior Court Judge Katherine Lumsden, who has presided over the Houston Judicial Circuit bench since 2007, accepted the plea and handed down the sentence, according to 13WMAZ. As 41NBC News reported, prosecutors described Layton as a family friend who gave the child an iPad and used it to send the victim nude images over an extended period. The abuse came to light after an adult family member discovered nude images of the child that prosecutors say Layton had taken, and immediately contacted law enforcement.
How the Abuse Came to Light
According to prosecutors, the child later told investigators that Layton had been taking the photos for nearly two years. The Houston County Sheriff's Office Juvenile Investigations Division, working the case alongside Sgt. Bennett Lashley, opened its investigation in March 2025 after the family member's report, per the same 41NBC account. District Attorney Eric Edwards credited that family member's attentiveness with ending the abuse, saying the person's examination of the child's device and swift report to law enforcement stopped the exploitation.
Edwards, who has built his career prosecuting special victims cases including child exploitation, domestic violence and human trafficking, said Layton had abused a position of trust to manipulate and exploit a 10-year-old child over an extended period, per 13WMAZ. “Children should never fear exploitation by trusted adults,” Edwards said, according to the Houston County District Attorney's Office, which reported that Layton pleaded guilty to child molestation and sexual exploitation of children. Assistant District Attorney Brandi Holland prosecuted the case for the state.
Maximum Sentence Under Georgia Law
The 20-year sentence — 19 years in prison followed by one year of probation — represents the statutory maximum allowed under Georgia law for a single count of child molestation, prosecutors noted, as reported by 13WMAZ. Under O.C.G.A. § 16-6-4, first-offense child molestation is a felony punishable by five to 20 years in prison, according to Brett Willis Law LLC. Aggravated child molestation carries a far steeper mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison followed by lifetime probation under the same statute.
The final year of probation was specifically structured to allow timely sex offender registration once Layton is released, 13WMAZ reported. Georgia law requires anyone convicted of child molestation to register as a sex offender with the local sheriff's office within 72 hours of release from prison, per O.C.G.A. § 42-1-12, according to the Haralson County Sheriff's Office, which details the statewide mandate. Layton will be required to register as a sex offender for life after his release.
Strict Residency Limits Await Release
Once registered, Layton will be barred from living, working or loitering within 1,000 feet of any school, church, childcare facility or other place where children gather, under O.C.G.A. § 42-1-15, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Failing to comply with those registration or residency rules is itself a separate felony carrying up to 30 years in prison, the agency notes.
The case reflects a broader push by the Houston County District Attorney's Office to pursue the strongest penalties available against those who prey on children, the office has said. That effort has been aided by the Houston Judicial Circuit's addition of a fourth Superior Court judge, which added eight trial weeks per year to a docket straining under Houston County's rapid growth, according to 13WMAZ. That expanded capacity helped push Layton's case toward trial roughly 17 months after the investigation began, forcing his last-minute plea.
Part of a Wider Pattern in Houston County
Layton's case is not an isolated one for the county's Special Victims Unit. In June 2025, Judge Lumsden sentenced Houston County resident Robert Dean Garza Jr. to 65 years in prison, with no parole eligibility for 25 years, after a jury convicted him on 26 child sex crime charges involving two nine-year-old children of a family friend, according to the Macon Telegraph. That case, like Layton's, was prosecuted under DA Edwards and involved a family friend using digital devices to exploit children in a home setting.
Holland, who prosecuted Layton, also co-prosecuted a March 2026 trial that ended with a 60-year sentence, including 25 years in prison, for Fort Valley resident Corey Alan Husk following his conviction on five counts of child molestation. That case similarly stemmed from a Houston County Sheriff's Office Juvenile Investigations Division probe launched after a child disclosed abuse. Investigations of this kind routinely rely on the Rainbow House Children's Resource Center in Warner Robins, an accredited child advocacy center that conducts forensic interviews and provides support services to young victims across Houston County.
