By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An Atmore man remained in the county jail this week, charged with taking sexual advantage of a young relative as the girl slept.
Escambia County Detention Center records show that 32-year-old Charles Franklin Jones Jr. is charged with one count of felony sexual abuse of a child older than 12 but younger than 16. He is being held under a bond of $250,000.
The case against Jones was initiated on January 4, when the mother of a 13-year-old girl discovered what Jones had allegedly done.
“A mother called us on January 4,” said Atmore Police Chief Chuck Brooks. “Her daughter told her she had been sexually assaulted by her cousin. She identified the offender as a 32-year-old, male relative who had come to the house.”
The incident apparently happened while the man and the teen were sitting on a couch together, watching television, and she fell asleep beside him. She told her mother she awoke to a nightmare.
“She and her older cousin were on the couch, and she was sitting beside him,” said Brooks. “She went to sleep, and later told her mother she woke up when her cousin touched her inappropriately in several places.”
Brooks said APD investigators notified county human resources officials of the girl’s claims, and a probe into the matter turned up enough evidence to file charges against Jones.
“Normally, anytime there’s child abuse, we notify DHR, and they conduct an investigation along with Child Advocacy Center,” he explained. “If they feel there’s a strong enough case, we obtain an arrest warrant.”