A Rhea County woman is being held on a $500,000 bond after being arrested on an indictment accusing her of sex crimes involving a child under 12 years old.
Lynzie Jean Bartley, 28, was arrested on a multicount indictment Monday charging her with two counts of rape of a child and aggravated sexual battery involving a child under 12 years old, according to Rhea County Jail records.
Investigator Rocky Potter, the family violence, child abuse and elder abuse detective at the Rhea County Sheriff's Office, said the alleged victim provided an account to investigators.
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"We had a young girl who went to a family member and told them that a young female was touching her inappropriately," Potter said in a phone interview.
The alleged victim's age being under the age of 12 upgrades the charge from aggravated statutory rape -- which would be the charge if the alleged victim is a minor aged 13 or older -- to rape of a child, Potter said.
The investigation began in mid-November, he said.
"The Department of Children's Services's hotline was called, and they called me," Potter said.
The alleged victim was interviewed at the Child Advocacy Center in Rhea County called "Landon's Place," so named for Landon Robbins, a 5-year-old Rhea County boy who died at the hands of his parents in 2013.
In a forensic interview at the Advocacy Center, the alleged victim gave an account to authorities, including children's services officials, of incidents involving Bartley, Potter said.
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In an interview with Rhea County investigators, Bartley allegedly admitted to the sexual assaults, and those interviews were part of evidence presented to the grand jury Monday, Potter said. The most serious charge against Bartley of rape of a child is a felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison.
Bartley faces a date in Rhea County Criminal Court on March 8, according to jail records.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.