KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A former officer with the Oak Ridge Police Department and the Knoxville Police Department is due to appear in court in Knox County on October 25 for charges related to several sex crimes.
Cassen Jackson-Garrison, 36, faces charges including sexual battery by an authority figure, rape, assault, solicitation of a minor, sexual activity involving a minor and distribution of material to minors. He will be arraigned on those charges at 9 a.m. on Oct. 25.
The Knoxville Police Department said that they linked Jackson-Garrison with two separate juvenile victims and after presenting evidence to a judge, he was indicted for 14 separate charges.
Jackson-Garrison was previously charged with aggravated statutory rape and official misconduct in May 2016, after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation received a complaint that he was having an inappropriate relationship with a minor in 2015.
A man who was being held at the Anderson County Detention Facility reported the 2015 incident. He said that Jackson-Garrison was one of two officers who responded to his home on the domestic violence complaint that landed him in jail. He said that is when Jackson-Garrison met the teenage victim.
Investigators followed up on the complaint, and the information was confirmed by the girl's mother.
As part of a plea agreement in the 2015 case, Jackson-Garrison surrendered his police certification and served two years of probation. Charges against him were dismissed in July 2021, according to reports.
From 2004 through 2008, he also played as a running back for the Vanderbilt Commodores.
Jackson-Garrison was booked by the Knox County Sheriff's Office on Oct. 8 for the new charges. He was given a $100,000 bond and will need to wear a monitoring device if he is released before trial.
Police said the investigation is still ongoing. They said that it is possible victims may be involved who are unknown to authorities. Anyone who has been a victim of this crime, or similar crimes, should reach out to the Special Crimes Unit at (865) 215-6820.