GRAY, Ga. — A man will spend at least 30 years in prison after setting a Jones County deputy’s home on fire while his wife – a Jasper County investigator – and their three kids were sleeping inside.
According to a release from the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit DA’s office, James Spensley pleaded guilty in Jones County Superior Court on Monday.
Spensley was accused of intentionally setting fire to the home of a Jones County deputy in the early morning of July 28, 2018.
Also sleeping inside the home at the time of the fire were the deputy’s wife, a Jasper County Sheriff’s investigator, and their three kids ranging in age from 8 to 2-months-old.
A neighbor on their way to work was credited with passing by the scene and waking up the family. Jones County investigators later found a Walmart receipt for a firestarter at the scene.
Surveillance video from Walmart showed Spensley making the purchase, and it took deputies two weeks to track him down.
Investigators found that Spensley set the fire because he was angry at the deputy’s wife for her role in his arrest three years prior for attempted child molestation and obscene contact with a minor. He hoped the fire would scare her enough for the charges to be dropped.
He pleaded guilty to charges of first degree arson, aggravated assault on a peace officer, and aggravated assault. He was sentenced to 60 years, with the first 30 to be served in prison. He is also banned from the two counties.
