Pickens jury convicts Travelers Rest man

A Travelers Rest man convicted by a Pickens County jury of a sex offense will be required to serve at least 20 years before being eligible for parole. The office of Greenville-Pickens Solicitor Walt Wilkins today announced the conviction of Justin Ryan Cone on the charge of criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the first degree. Judge William Keesley’s sentence amounted to 30 years in prison. Cone is 29 years old. According to the prosecutor’s office, evidence showed that over the course of several years, Cone sexually assaulted a child under the age of 11 years old. Cone was a friend of the child’s parents.