Canton Man Sentenced To Life In Assault, Rape Case

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A Canton resident already serving a life sentence for an assault on a woman in Bartow County has been given the same sentence for the crime that originated in Cherokee County.

Chancey Earl Droney, 43, entered guilty pleas to one count of rape, aggravated assault and aggravated sodomy and two counts of aggravated sexual battery.

Cherokee County Superior Court Judge David Cannon, Jr. on May 21 sentenced Droney to life in prison, which will run concurrent to the life sentence he received in March from Bartow County Superior Court Judge Suzanne H. Smith.

In exchange for the negotiated plea, the state declined to prosecute Droney for the kidnapping and sexual exploitation of children charges he was indicted on back in February.

The incident came to light during the evening hours of Sunday, March 30, 2014, when Adairsville police responded to a call at the Ramada Inn hotel on Georgia North Circle.

The woman, who appeared to be “visibly traumatized,” told officers Droney “had abducted her in Cherokee County, bound her with duct tape and transported her by vehicle” to the hotel.

The woman told authorities she had a prior relationship with Droney, and said the suspect called and asked to meet her at a restaurant in the Holly Springs area, the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office previously told Patch.

At the restaurant, Droney brandished a knife and ordered the woman to get into his vehicle.

Droney then took the woman to a secluded location in Cherokee and sexually assaulted her. The suspect then took the woman to the hotel in Adairsville where the assault continued.

The woman was able to get away from Droney with the help from a hotel clerk, who called 911.

Droney was arrested and charged with rape, aggravated battery, aggravated sodomy, two counts of aggravated assault, aggravated sexual battery, battery, sexual battery, false imprisonment, criminal trespass, terroristic threats and acts and kidnapping with injury charges.

Adairsville police then contacted Cherokee sheriff’s detectives after the woman told them she had been kidnapped from the neighboring county. The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office subsequently charged Droney in connection to the incident.

A Bartow County grand jury last year indicted Droney on one count each of kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated battery, false imprisonment and criminal trespass; two counts each of aggravated sodomy, rape, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual battery and simple battery; and five counts of sexual battery.

Droney was indicted by a Cherokee County grand jury on one count of kidnapping, aggravated assault, rape, two counts of aggravated sexual battery, one count of aggravated sodomy and one count of sexual exploitation of children.

The Cherokee indictment stated Droney was in possession of images depicting children in sexually explicit situations.

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Photo credit: Cherokee Sheriff’s Office