Child rape suspect found asleep on Maxwell Street porch
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Atmore police were able to peacefully take a Baldwin County man into custody on July 30, although the arrest apparently brought a peaceful moment to an end for the suspect.
“We had gotten word that he was seen in the Maxwell Street area,” said Atmore Police Chief Chuck Brooks of 29-year-old Corneise Colins Payne. “When we found him, he was asleep on the porch of a house on Maxwell Street. We made a positive ID and took him in.”
Payne, who failed to provide a permanent address when he was arrested around 8:45 a.m., was the subject of an outstanding Baldwin County warrant charging him with sexually forcing himself upon a child under the age of 12.
It is not known how long Payne had been in the Atmore area prior to the arrest. But the warrant — which stemmed from an investigation begun on February 7 by Bay Minette police after a parent of the young victim reported the possible misdeed — wasn’t issued until July 17, according to a press release issued by BMPD officials.
According to the release, the BMPD investigation determined that Payne “had forceable sex with a minor child under 12 years of age,” and city detectives “developed sufficient probable cause to obtain an arrest warrant …on July 17.”
Brooks said his officers took Payne to the CEFCO store on U.S. 31, just across the county line, and transferred custody to Baldwin County sheriff’s deputies.
According to the Baldwin County Jail website, Payne remained behind bars late Monday, charged with one count of first-degree rape and one count of possession of a controlled substance. He is being held under total bonds of $105,000 — $100,000 on the child rape charge; $5,000 on the drug charge, jail records show.
Rape in the first degree is a Class A felony. Class A felonies are the most serious and could result in a prison sentence of at least 10 years, up to 99 years or life. A fine of up to $60,000 may also be levied.