By Alyssa Schnugg
After pleading guilty to possessing child porn, a former Water Valley probation officer last
week asked a federal judge to release him from the Panola County Jail, claiming conditions at
the detention center were causing him physical and mental harm.
Lonnie K. Everill, 44, was arrested on April 16 and charged by the FBI with one count of
possessing child porn and one count of distributing child porn.
On Jan. 14 he pleaded guilty in the Federal Courthouse in Oxford to one charge of knowingly
receiving visual depiction that has been shipped or transported in or affecting interstate or
foreign commerce by any means, including by computer, and the depiction involved the use
of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
In exchange for his plea, the distribution of child porn charges was dropped.
Everill is being held on no bond in the Panola County Jail in solitary confinement for his safety
since he was a probation officer. However, Everill’s attorney Robert Davis, filed a motion
asking the court to allow Everill to be released from jail pending his sentencing hearing which
was set for April 25.
Everill told the judge he wanted to be released because he wanted to help his wife in
preparations for his future jail sentence. He then said if he couldn’t go home, he wanted to go
to Pine Grove Mental Heath facility in Hattiesburg for counseling for his “sex addiction.”
He also told the court he should be released because conditions at the jail were affecting his
health and mental well-being. He said he is confined to his cell and only gets out once every
two weeks or so to go outside and for visits where he can visit with people behind glass. He
claimed he wasn’t getting cleaning supplies regularly and hasn’t been able to clean his cell
since October.
Panola County Jail Administrator Bobby Meek took the stand and said Everill gets taken out
when there are enough guards available to do so without Everill having to go outside by
himself. According to a document, Everill was taken outside on average once every two
weeks. Meek testified that Everill is able to request cleaning supplies whenever he wants
them.
Federal Judge Daniel P. Jordan denied the motion to be released, but did tell Assistant U.S.
Attorney Parker King and Davis to come up with guidelines to present to the jail to ensure
Everill is allowed to go outside for an hour at least once a week.
Everill faces five to 20 years in prison with no parole.