Sex offender found with 14-year-old appears in court

A 14-year-old was spotted Tuesday on surveillance video at a Walmart in Marion, N.C., with convicted child molester Benjamin Joseph "Ben" Shook. (Photo courtesy of SPD Chief James Hammonds)
A 14-year-old was spotted Tuesday on surveillance video at a Walmart in Marion, N.C., with convicted child molester Benjamin Joseph "Ben" Shook. (Photo courtesy of SPD Chief James Hammonds)
photo A 14-year-old was spotted Tuesday on surveillance video at a Walmart in Marion, N.C., with convicted child molester Benjamin Joseph "Ben" Shook. (Photo courtesy of SPD Chief James Hammonds)

Convicted sex offender Benjamin Joseph Shook made his first appearance this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Greeneville.

Shook, 41, was apprehended this morning in Smyth County, Va., with a 14-year-old East Tennessee girl he has allegedly been with since June 22.

Shook, clad in waist and hand shackles over a camouflage-style hunting shirt, answered a series of questions by presiding U.S. Magistrate Judge Clifton Corker, who appointed the Federal Defender Services of East Tennessee to represent him.

Shook, charged in a U.S. District Court criminal complaint with interstate travel by a convicted sex offender without registration, waived his detention hearing. Bond was not set by Corker.

Shook will appear in court next at a preliminary hearing in U.S. District Court on July 16.

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