Accused child molester, police chief enters guilty plea

A former Kinston police chief and Newton police officer pleaded guilty Thursday to multiple sex-related charges of a child less than 12 years old.

A plea agreement was reached between Harold Frost and prosecutors for Frost to serve 20 years in prison in exchange for Frost’s plea of guilty to counts of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12, according to court documents.

The agreement was reached at the Elba County Courthouse last Thursday evening and just 24 hours after a jury was struck for Frost’s trial, which was scheduled to begin Monday.

The plea was also made just over a year after Frost’s conviction for sodomy in the first degree and two counts of sexual abuse was overturned on appeal. An appeals court overturned the conviction, citing ineffective assistance of counsel.

Frost was initially arrested July 27, 2007, for the alleged sexual abuse of two females ages eight and nine. The arrest was made following an investigation by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation. He was charged with two counts of sexual abuse in the first degree, first-degree sodomy and first-degree rape.

The charge of rape was dropped in 2008 during plea negotiations and Frost pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of sodomy and sexual abuse.

Coffee County Circuit Judge Jeff Kelley, who was scheduled to preside over Frost’s trial, sentenced the former police chief in June 2008 following his guilty plea.

Before rendering the sentence, Kelley chastised Frost for what he called “a breach of society’s trust.”

He sentenced Frost to life in prison for sodomy and 15 years in prison for each count of sexual abuse to run consecutively.

Kelly said Frost’s actions robbed his victims of a large portion of their childhood, their innocence. It was an act Kelley said he would not take lightly.

Prior to his arrest, Frost was employed as a Newton police officer. He worked part-time for Newton from August 2006 until May 2007, after which he became a full-time employee. Once released on bond, Frost tendered his resignation to the department.

Frost had also been police chief in Kinston from June 2006 to April 2007.

Frost’s “freedom” on bond proved to be short lived after investigators from the Coffee County District Attorney’s Office found that he was in violation of conditions of his bond by living only 36 feet from one victim’s residence.

Almost nine months after his arrest, Frost admitted his guilt in molesting two Kinston children.