Covington serial child sexual predator to serve life in prison after guilty plea
Ronnie Maxwell
COVINGTON, Ga. - A Covington man, who has already served 16 years in a Georgia prison for a similar crime, will serve life behind bars for the sexual abuse of at least two more children.
Ronnie Maxwell, 55, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to multiple charges including rape, aggravated child molestation, and aggravated sodomy. The plea comes less than three weeks before his scheduled trial.
His latest sentence stems from a 2021 case involving two children, ages 6 and 3.
During the investigation, Maxwell attempted to evade law enforcement, leading to a high-speed chase and subsequent charges for traffic violations and failure to register as a sex offender. He was arrested in May 2021 in Tennessee after fleeing from Newton County.
Ronnie Maxwell's previous child molestation conviction
Maxwell was released from Phillips State Prison in May 2018 after the Newton County District Attorney’s Office said he pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated child molestation, three counts of child molestation, one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and one count of tampering with evidence. These offenses involved two victims, both 11 years old at the time. He was sentenced to 30 years, with the first 15 years in confinement, and required to register as a sex offender.
The DA’s office said Maxwell likely took the plea after a judge allowed his prior convictions to be introduced and the two victims to testify. In addition, a third victim from 2002, who had not previously reported an assault to authorities, surfaced to offer testimony.
Maxwell also pleaded guilty in federal court to failing to register as a sex offender before being extradited to Georgia.