LOUDON COUNTY, Tenn. — A grand jury indicted a Loudon County youth leader on 32 criminal counts of having sex with a minor in a case that came to light in 2018.
According to Loudon County District Attorney General Russell Johnson, 35-year-old Courtney Bingham is being charged for sex crimes with a 16-year-old male alleged to have happened between Nov. 1 and Dec. 3, 2018.
She's facing four counts of statutory rape by an authority figure, four counts of aggravated statutory rape, eight counts of solicitation of a minor to commit statutory rape by an authority figure, eight counts of solicitation of a minor to commit aggravated statutory rape, and eight counts of sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means.
The DA said Bingham was originally arrested on one count of aggravated statutory rape by an authority figure and one count of solicitation of a minor by electronic means in Dec. 2018.
Johnson said the allegations came to the attention of a former Loudon County Sheriff's Office detective who's now with the Lenoir City Police Department.
According to Detective Jason Smith, Bingham was arrested on Dec. 4 after she reportedly sent nude pictures and lewd comments to a 16-year-old male at Bethany Baptist Church.
Bingham calls herself a youth leader and has been referred to by others as a youth leader, Smith said.
Investigators believe she and the boy started communicating over the summer of 2018, according to the sheriff's office.