Smithville Man Charged With Statutory Rape of Minor

The Smithville Police Department has charged a 24 year old man with the statutory rape of a 16 year old girl.
Chief Thomas J. Stufano says Jason Knowles of 8956 Short Mountain Road is charged with three counts of statutory rape. His bond is set at $30,000. He turned himself in at the DeKalb County Jail late Tuesday night.
According to Chief Stufano, “On Tuesday, police investigated the crime of statutory rape of a minor. The victim’s father had suspected that there may have been some inappropriate attention directed toward his 16 year old daughter by an older male acquaintance of the family.”
Stufano says “Investigators discovered that Knowles had been sexually intimate with the minor on three separate occasions at the minor’s residence while other family members were asleep. The juvenile stated that Knowles was aware that she was only 16 and still attending high school. During the course of the investigation, the minor also disclosed that Knowles would routinely ‘snort’ drugs just prior to the intimacy. The father became concerned when the adult male subject started becoming ‘over-friendly’ with his daughter. Both the Division of Child Services and authorities of the DeKalb County School system were also contacted about the incident.”
Chief Stufano says “Smithville Police are committed to actively investigating these serious crimes that put our children in harm’s way. With the strong support of our citizens, criminals now know that crime will not be tolerated in our community.”