Ex-principal pleads guilty to child-sex charges

Larry Ray Jewell, 58, of 104 Queensbury Drive in Dunn, pleaded guilty to 15 counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor. He received three consecutive sentences of 16 to 20 months in prison, followed by three consecutive suspended sentences of the same length and up to five years on supervised probation.

Jewell was arrested in February 2007 on 46 sex charges involving a youth who lived in his home. Raleigh police later charged him with a sex-related offense involving a student at Southeast Raleigh High in 2006.

The Raleigh charge is pending.

Jewell, who resigned his position at the school immediately before his arrest, had maintained his innocence in the Harnett County cases, claiming the charges were in retaliation for his efforts to evict the accuser from his home.

He has been in the Harnett County Detention Center since his arrest and will receive credit for the time he's already served.

To avoid serving the suspended portion of the sentence, Jewell must within four years of his release register with the state as a sex offender, complete a state program for sex offenders, provide a DNA sample to the state and pay restitution to the victim. He also was ordered to stay away from the victim and to not have unsupervised contact with anyone under age 18.