PINEVILLE — A Knox county man is facing charges of rape, sodomy, and sexual abuse in Bell County — on a victim less than twelve years of age.

The Commonwealth handed down an indictment in late September charging 31-year-old Timmy Lee Jackson with nine counts of sexual crimes beginning in January 2005.

Jackson is charged with one count of rape in the first degree for engaging in sexual intercourse with a person less than 12 years of age between January 2005 and July 2005. A second, identical charge has been levied against him for an offense that occurred between May 2007 and February 2008.

The Bell County Grand Jury has additionally charged Jackson with five counts of first-degree Sodomy, also committed against a person less than 12 years old, during the same period of time that the rape charges allegedly occurred.

The arresting officer, Ken Shaw of the Pineville Police Department, confirmed that the offenses were allegedly committed against one juvenile victim.

Jackson also faces a charge of Sexual Abuse in the first degree and one count of being a Persistent Felony Offender in the second degree, having been convicted of one prior felony after he turned 21.

Jackson was arrested in July and is currently lodged in the Bell County Detention Center on a $250,000 bond.

Jackson will be arraigned in Bell County Circuit Court October 22nd at 9 a.m.

An arrest is an accusation only. Those arrested are considered innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

Lorie Settles is a staff writer for the Middlesboro Daily News. She may be contacted by e-mail at lsettles@heartlandpublications.com.