Concerned citizens' calls lead to significant arrests in DeKalb County, Ala.

photo Skyler Ray Bennett
photo Bradley Bell
photo Jennifer Lawson
photo Billy Helton
photo Hannah Kessler
photo Brandon Rogers
photo Taylor Rogers

Calls from concerned citizens led to several significant arrests in DeKalb County, Ala., last week, the sheriff's office said.

A caller notified the sheriff's office on Jan. 22 about a man having child pornography on his phone.

After an investigation and obtaining a search warrant for a home on County Road 1 in Boaz, Ala., Skyler Ray Bennett, 26, was arrested on charges of producing obscene material, drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana.

In a separate incident last Wednesday, a person called police to a home on County Road 790 in the Ider community after a woman showed up claiming to have been kidnapped and beaten.

The woman was taken to a local hospital where she was treated for her injuries. It wasn't clear what her latest condition was.

Sheriff's deputies obtained a search warrant for a home on County Road 146 where drugs and drug paraphernalia was found, as well as a stolen vehicle.

Four people - Bradley Bell, 25; Jennifer Lawson, 32; Billy Helton, 18; and Hannah Kessler, 18 - were arrested and charged with unlawful possession of controlled substance and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

Lawson and Bell have also been charged with kidnapping and assault.

And an incident last Thursday led to the arrest of two people after someone called to report three unattended young children walking down a road.

Officers arrived and found the children to be OK. But when they took the children back to their home on County Road 485 in Fort Payne, Ala., investigators found drug paraphernalia and meth inside.

The Department of Human Resources was contacted.

Brandon and Taylor Rogers, 28 and 26 respectively, were arrested and charged with three counts of endangering welfare of a child, unlawful possession of controlled substance and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

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