Benton indicted, arrested for SORNA violations; bond set at $1 million

A Fayette County grand jury has indicted Timothy Vess Benton on two counts of violating Alabama’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), and he was arrested Aug. 4 by investigators with the Alabama Attorney General’s Office. Benton was booked into the Fayette County Jail, where his bond was set at $1 million. The new charges stem from events following a June 2025 ruling by Circuit Judge Samuel W. Junkin that modified Benton’s original sentence. Although Benton had been serving a 17-year prison sentence, the court ordered his release from the Alabama Department of Corrections into the 24th Judicial Circuit Community Corrections Program. Under the modified sentence, he was allowed to serve the remainder of his prison term on house arrest with GPS monitoring.