Alabama man charged for allegedly having sex with a child less than 12 years old

Sex offenders tile
Sex offenders tile

A Woodville, Ala., man was charged Friday with multiple counts of child sexual abuse stemming from incidents late last year, police said.

Benjamin Shawn Baugh, 39, is charged with two counts of sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old, two counts of first-degree sodomy and one count of enticing a child for immoral purposes, according to his booking sheet at the Jackson County Jail.

Baugh is being held on $107,500 bond. Authorities said he was arrested Friday on an indictment issued after a presentation during the grand jury's March session. Jackson County's grand jury meets quarterly.

Chief Deputy Rocky Harnen said Monday that Baugh became the subject of an investigation after the victim's mother contacted authorities in December with allegations of sexual abuse.

The incidents allegedly happened in October, Harnen said after a short conversation with a detective on the case. Once local authorities were contacted, the Alabama Department of Human Resources joined the investigation, he said.

Harnen said authorities are unaware of other victims or any prior criminal history involving similar allegations. He added that he couldn't go further into detail because of the nature of the case and age of the victim.

First-degree sodomy is a class A felony, while sexual abuse of a child under 12 is a class B felony. And enticing a child for immoral purposes is a class C felony, according to the Alabama State Legislature's state code site. A conviction on the class A felony charge potentially carries a sentence of no less than 10 years and no more than life or 99 years in prison.

Jackson County Circuit Court officials said Monday a court date has not been set in Baugh's case and no lawyer was listed as his legal counsel. A date should be set in the next few days, officials said.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.

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