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Jason Kennedy, principal of Liberty Christian school in Tennessee, who was arrested last year on accusations of abuse of a minor, was recently indicted on 11 additional charges after investigations revealed the suspect molested three more victims.
Jason Kennedy, 47, was first arrested and charged in August 2022 for s*xually abusing an underage student at his home in Athens, Tennessee. The 19-year-old victim told authorities that Kennedy, along with school secretary and homeschool coordinator Brittney Branham, 28, who was staying with the suspect and his wife at the time, molested her for three years while she was a minor.
The abuse allegedly began in 2019.
Following the allegations, Kennedy was charged with two counts of s*xual assault by an authority figure and one count of solicitation of a minor in connection to the incident. Branham was also charged with solicitation of a minor in August for aiding the suspect.
The former principal is now facing 11 new charges, including s*xual activity involving a minor, solicitation of a minor to observe s*xual conduct, aggravated s*xual battery, six counts of s*xual battery by an authority figure, and two counts of violation of the Child Protect Act.
Investigators said that in addition to the first victim, who reported the crime, they have discovered three new victims the suspect assaulted during his tenure as the principal of the Christian school. It is unclear if Branham conspired with Kennedy in connection to the new charges.
Victim assaulted by Jason Kennedy recounts the abuse
In a court affidavit, the 19-year-old victim, who first reported the incident, recounted multiple instances where she was abused by Jason Kennedy and his accomplice Brittney Branham.
As per the New York Post, the teenager, while recalling the incident that occurred in 2019, said that she was reportedly a minor the first time she spent the night at Kennedy’s home that he shared with his wife and the school secretary Branham.
Describing the terrible ordeal, the victim said that she was allegedly staying in the same room as Branham when Jason Kennedy came into the bedroom. After the secretary urged the former principal to touch her in an inappropriate manner, she was abused. Branham then asked the victim to withhold what had transpired in the room.
As per the report, the teenager was assaulted again in 2020 and 2021, where, in one of the instances, Branham and Kennedy bought her a “black and white skimpy nightgown” and touched her chest. The victim told authorities that after the assault, the perpetrators straightened up their clothing and proceeded to act as if nothing ever happened.
According to a court affidavit cited by the post, the victim said after the abuse, the abusers acted:
“Like nothing had happened, they began talking like normal.”
Authorities have not released the names and identities of the other victims who were subjected to similar abuse by Jason Kennedy as they were underage girls.
