A trial date has been set in the case of a local man accused of sexual abuse and incest.
Jackie Lee McKnight, 54, of Benton, will stand trial beginning at 9 a.m. March 14, 2018, in Marshall County Circuit Court. The trial is expected to last about three days. McKnight stands accused on four counts of first-degree sexual abuse and third-degree sodomy, both Class D felonies, and four counts of incest – forcible compulsion with a victim under 18, a Class B felony.
McKnight was arrested May 16 after police say the victim’s mother came forward with claims that he had inappropriate sexual contact with her 16-year-old daughter from May 2015 through January 2016. According to court documents, the victim’s mother said she had walked into the residence at which the family stayed in January 2016 and discovered McKnight in her daughter’s room with the door locked. She reportedly confronted McKnight, who first denied then later allegedly admitted to her the contact, according to investigators’ statements.
The victim told police she feared repercussions on her family should she disclose the alleged abuse, according to investigators’ statements; they approached Marshall County Sheriff’s investigators in May after the victim reported she’d “held this in for too long,” and needed help.
McKnight, who was released on a $25,000 property bond, waived his right to have the case presented to a grand jury for indictment in June. He was initially charged on suspicion of third-degree rape, though charges were later amended to first-degree sexual abuse.
McKnight is represented by public defender Amy Harwood-Jackson. Harwood-Jackson declined to comment on the case at this time.