To avoid forcing two children

into testifying against their mom and dad a second time, prosecutors hammered

out a plea agreement Monday with a local couple accused of molesting their

then 12-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter in 1998.

The agreement means Mark Anthony

(Tony) Wheeler and Candace Marie Wheeler will serve their original sentences

handed down by Superior Court Judge Johnnie L. Caldwell Jr. They pled

guilty in court Monday to two counts each of felony child molestation;

in return they each got 15 years probation added to their two-and three-year

prison sentences.

Authorities claimed the Wheelers

failed to report when their daughter was molested by Candace Wheeler's

ex-husband. Police found a videotape of one such incident at the couple's

home while executing a search warrant before their arrest.

In court Monday, Caldwell fined

the Wheelers $3,000 each for the felony child molestation offenses. The

couple is due to turn themselves in to Fayette jail officials Monday morning.

Caldwell made it clear that

he accepted the guilty pleas because of the wishes of the district attorney's

office to be sensitive to the victims and not force them to testify again.

The Wheelers' original jail

sentences were for related misdemeanor convictions last year after they

were found guilty of sexually exploiting their children and distributing

obscene material, both misdemeanor counts. Candace Marie Wheeler was also

found guilty of contributing to the deprivation of a minor, also a misdemeanor.

The Wheelers were given the

maximum jail sentence for those misdemeanor charges: 12 months in jail

for each count, meaning Mark (Tony) Wheeler will serve 24 months in jail

and Candace will serve 36 months.

The Wheelers were out on bond

while appealing the verdict but they have agreed to drop the appeal as

part of their guilty plea. The children, who are now 16 and 11, no longer

live with the Wheelers.

The felony charges were to

be prosecuted because the jury who heard the original case deadlocked

on those verdicts, allowing the Wheelers to be retried by District Attorney

Bill McBroom.

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