A Dayton, Tennessee, man charged in a child rape investigation is now facing two additional counts after a second girl came forward after seeing his arrest on Facebook.
John William McDonald, 39, was charged in early December with 10 counts of rape of a child, 10 counts of aggravated sexual battery and 10 additional related counts, stemming from an investigation launched in November after the first accuser revealed what happened to her, according to authorities in Rhea County.
John William McDonald"The young female victim had disclosed [the alleged abuse] to someone at school," Rhea County Sheriff's Office investigator Rocky Potter said Wednesday of the initial case. School officials notified the girl's mother, who took the girl to the doctor for an exam.
"The doctor followed protocol by calling the Tennessee [Child Abuse] Hotline," which in turn notified Rhea County authorities, Potter said.
"This was a 10-year-old female that he was in charge of and had contact with through the family," Potter said. He said the abuse took place over a period of just less than a year.
The girl was interviewed at the Child Advocacy Center in Bradley County and then McDonald was interviewed, he said.
"He gave me a statement that was consistent with the young girl's statement," Potter said.
McDonald was arrested on the 30-count indictment and a $250,000 bond was set.
Then "around mid-December I received a call from a police agency out in the Midwest," Potter said. "They had a mother and another young girl there under the age of 12" who previously had lived in Rhea County.
"The mother was on Facebook and was checking up with friends and happened to see on Facebook his intake photo from the first indictment," Potter said. "She knew that her daughter had been around Mr. McDonald about the same time that the other girl had."
The second girl and her mother went to the local police department and authorities there called Potter, who made arrangements to travel to that city to gather evidence and interview the girl at a local children's advocacy center.
Potter spent a few days there gathering evidence and meeting with family members, he said.
While Potter was in the Midwest, McDonald had a bond reduction hearing back in Rhea County in front of Circuit Court Judge Justin Angel. Assistant District Attorney David Shinn informed Judge Angel during the hearing that a second accuser was being interviewed in another state and enough evidence had been gathered for another presentation to the grand jury, Potter said.
Rather than reduce McDonald's bond, Judge Angel increased it to $1 million with an order issued Jan. 30, Rhea County Circuit Court Clerk's Office officials said. Court officials said McDonald's next court date is March 20 on the 30-count indictment, but there was no date set for the two new counts.
McDonald had no attorney on record Wednesday, officials said.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.