Jason Futch
Reporter2.riverbendnews@gmail.com
Craig David Ames appeared in court at the Suwannee County Courthouse on Thursday, Oct. 16, before Circuit Judge Mark Feagle to plead guilty to a series of sex crimes involving children, child sexual abuse material, and failing to update sex offender registration.
Due to the heinous offenses, Ames was facing the possibility of the death penalty; however, because he accepted a plea deal from the State, he was sentenced to life in prison for three counts of sexual battery upon a child under 12 years old. As part of his sentence, Ames was ordered to be involuntarily committed under the Jimmy Ryce Act, submit a DNA sample, and have no contact with the victims. He will also have to register as a sexual predator.
During the sentencing, it was revealed the victims, ranging in ages from 5 to 7, were victimized by Ames over a period of time. Family members also had the opportunity to speak out, condemning Amesfor his actions.
“I hope you burn in Hell for what you did,” one of the victim’s mothers said during her impact statement. She also described the assault in detail and said she and her daughter had hoped Ames would receive the death penalty. “I want him to die,” the mother said.
Assistant State Attorney Melissa Blackwell also read letters from another mother and the babysitter of one of the victims, the mother wishing Ames gets hurt in prison. The babysitter also wrote she was thankful Ames would never hurt another child again.
"Prison offers its own brand of justice," she wrote.
In addition to the life sentences for sexual battery, Ames was sentenced to five years in prison for charges related to failing to register as a sex offender. Those sentences will run concurrently.
Ames had been booked at the Suwannee County Jail since July 2024, when he was arrested by the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office, with the assistance of the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office, at his job in Lafayette County. During an interview with Ames, he allegedly revealed pertinent information involving the case and also admitted to further violations of his sex offender status. He also had child sexual abuse material on his phone and other electronic devices.
In January of this year, Ames’s case was moved to Circuit Court B after the State Attorney’s Office for the Third Judicial Circuit agreed to pursue the death penalty, as the sexual battery charges were considered capital offenses. Had Ames chosen to fight the charges, it would have marked the first time in the State’s history the death penalty would have been considered by a jury in a sexual battery case. Florida is one of five states, including Arkansas, Idaho, Oklahoma and Tennessee, that allow for the death penalty in sexual battery cases involving children.