Local woman receives multiple life sentences

Published 10:46 am Monday, December 19, 2016

An Oxford woman will most likely spend the rest of her life in prison for her role in the sexual assault of a 5-month-0ld child.

Angelena Miller Tidwell, 46, was sentenced to three life sentences on three counts of sexual battery and another 25 years to serve on a count of exploitation of a child.

All sentences will run concurrently; however, those sentenced to life in prison in Mississippi are not eligible for parole.

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The investigation was launched in June 2015 after the Sheriff’s Department received a complaint of a possible sexual assault occurring in June 2009. According to court records, Tidwell and her estranged husband, Perry “Glenn” Tidwell, both performed sexual acts on a female child in 2009.

Investigators searched Glenn Tidwell’s home and found evidence of child pornography and sexual battery on his computer, and both he and Angelena were arrested in June 2015.

On social media sites, Angelena Tidwell, through family members, maintained her innocence of the charges; however, in October she pleaded guilty to the four counts at the Lafayette County Circuit Court and was sentenced on Friday by Judge John Gregory.

Glenn Tidwell, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual battery and one count of possession of child pornography in September 2015 and was sentenced to life in prison on the first count and 30 years on the second count.

Angelena Tidwell was also charged with two counts of having sex with a dog in 2009 and in 2011. However, those charges were later dropped since Mississippi law states the crime must occur within two years of being charged.

She also has a pending lawsuit in the U.S. Federal Court against the Lafayette County Detention Center, Sheriff Buddy East and others, claiming she was denied medical attention after being attacked by another inmate and bitten on the arm; sexual harassment by a female corrections officer; and that the detention center failed to notify her family when she was in the hospital for an extended period and in the Intensive Care Unit.

She is asking for $5 million for pain, suffering and mental anguish.