KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The principal of a McMinn County private school charged in the summer of 2022 with sexually assaulting a child is now facing several more sex crime charges involving other children, according to a grand jury indictment.
Jason L. Kennedy was originally charged with two counts of sexual assault by an authority figure and one count of solicitation of a minor. Kennedy was both the principal and a teacher at Liberty Christian Academy, McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy said.
On Jan. 17, 2023, a McMinn County grand jury returned 11 new charges against Kennedy for sex crimes involving at least four children, including one child under 13 years old, between June 1996 and Sept. 2021.
Kennedy is now charged with sexual activity involving a minor, soliciting a minor to observe sexual conduct, six counts of sexual battery by an authority figure, aggravated sexual battery, and two violations of the Child Protection Act.
On Aug. 26, 2022, Guy announced deputies had arrested Kennedy and another employee at Liberty Christian Academy, Brittany Branham, for sexual assault involving a former student at the school. Branham was a secretary and home-school coordinator at the school, and according to Guy, she lived in the same home as Kennedy.