Andrews woman served with additional charges involving child pornography

Jessica Darlene Russell

The following press release has been issued by Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.  All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Cherokee County Sheriff Derrick Palmer announced the October 14th , 2015 arrest of 44-year-old Jessica Darlene Russell of Andrews, North Carolina on charges handed down from the October 12th, 2015 session of the Cherokee County Grand Jury.

On or about May 11, 2015 an Officer with the Andrews Police Department responded to a report of a disturbance in the town limits of Andrews.  Deputies of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office responded to the call to assist if needed. During the investigation of the disturbance, information became known that Russell was in possession of a video which depicted a minor engaged in a sexual act.  

Additional information was discovered and that information was presented to the October Grand Jury which handed additional charges.

The bill of indictment was served on Russell and the North Carolina Magistrate set an additional $200,000 secure bond and set a November 9th, 2015 Superior Court Date.

Russell remains in the Cherokee County Detention Center.

Sheriff Palmer stated, “We continue to aggressively pursue the predators that wage war against our children. No child should fear being exploited and abused and we intend to do our level best to protect our innocents. We are continuing to investigate this matter and feel that we will make additional arrests in the future as we work with agencies on the local, state and federal level.”

Sheriff Palmer encourages any one that has information to report it. To report crime in Cherokee County you can call the anonymous tip line at 828-837-1344 or email a tip at crime.tips@cherokeecounty-nc.gov or call 911 if you observe a crime in progress.

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