Michael Kelly Ray Warren will serve every bit of 25 years in prison as part of the life sentence he received after pleading guilty to a crime that violated the trust of his family. When he finally gets out, he will spend the rest of his days on probation, to include sex offender registration.
Warren, 35, of Blairsville, pleaded guilty to aggravated sodomy on Tuesday, April 21, the day his trial started at the Union County Courthouse. Eight other charges were dismissed in the plea agreement, including rape, aggravated sexual battery and exploitation of a disabled adult.
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In agreeing to a negotiated plea, Warren potentially avoided a longer life sentence or even multiple consecutive life sentences if found guilty, and his victim was spared the trauma of publicly recounting the crime in court.
Among many other sentencing conditions, Warren is to have no contact with his victim for the remainder of his life.
The case involved a sexual assault of an adult with significant intellectual disabilities that took place overnight Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, during a family sleepover, according to Enotah Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jeff Langley.
Warren’s child was actually in the room when the assault occurred but was sound asleep, so did not witness the crime; however, the child and the victim are related and have developed a close friendship, and the victim revealed the assault to the child the next day, Langley said.
The child quickly informed her mother – Warren’s wife – who in turn alerted the victim’s mother, and law enforcement was called.
Following an investigation, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested Warren a couple days after the assault, and he has been in custody at the Union County Jail ever since. He is now awaiting transport to state prison and will get credit for time served to date.
Langley said he and his team – Assistant DA Sidney “Buster” Landreau, Chief Victim Assistant Devyn Tanner and Inv. Kyle Lairamore – had prepared exhaustively for trial.
“My staff assigned to the case worked for many, many hours on this case,” Langley said. “They had all worked very hard on this case and very closely with the victim, the victim’s family, the victim’s medical providers. So, we were prepared for a long trial in this case.
“We were expecting it to last probably over a week, including DNA expert evidence, testimony, expert psychological testimony, and testimony from the victim is what was anticipated. It was going to be a lengthy trial.”
The District Attorney’s Office consulted with the victim’s family before offering Warren a plea that likely reduced his prison term by five years compared to the imposition of a single or concurrent life sentences if he were to have been found guilty at trial, Langley said.
“While of course they would have preferred an even longer sentence,” Langley said, “they were in agreement with the tradeoff in terms of the benefits of the victim and the victim’s family not having to testify, and they did not object to the negotiated plea.
“We were able to achieve a very significant sentence – 25 years without parole – without re-traumatizing this victim. Although we spent a lot of time preparing the victim to testify and preparing the case for trial, ultimately, the victim didn’t have to talk about these things in front of a crowded courtroom and in front of the defendant.”
Langley said the assault appeared to have been “a crime of opportunity,” with no evidence of “an ongoing abuse situation” between Warren and the victim.
Until entering the plea, Warren was claiming to have been under the influence of Nyquil, admitting that “something must have happened, but he didn’t remember,” said Langley, noting that his office discounted that as a “legitimate defense.”
And Warren did not have a criminal record prior to his arrest and was a trusted member of the family leading up to the crime.
“To try to take advantage of a trusted family situation and sexually assault an adult with disabilities is heinous,” Langley said. “That’s the reason we put a great deal of prosecution resources into this case.”
As a warning to public, Langley said that child molesters, rapists and others who commit sexual assault “don’t always fit the stereotype of the person you would assume is dangerous – it can be a trusted family member.”
“Therefore, when you have vulnerable individuals, whether that be a small child or an adult with disabilities, we all need, as a community, to take great care in having discernment and a somewhat distrustful eye toward persons who might volunteer to provide care for them,” Langley said.
