Jamie Rathbone |
A Canton man has been charged with kidnapping and raping two Haywood County runaways at a Jackson County residence.
Jamie Eugene Rathbone, 23, has been charged by the Jackson County Sheriff's Department with two counts of kidnapping, five counts of statutory rape, five counts of indecent liberties with a child, three counts of communicating threats and eight counts of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile. The charges follow the Feb. 23 discovery of the two Haywood County runaways at a residence on Mulberry Branch Road in Cullowhee. The structure, according to officers, was being renovated by Rathbone and his employer for Smoky Mountain Mental Health to use as a group home. The girls, ages 13 and 14, were found at the residence by Rathbone's fiancee, daughter of his employer, said Detective Darrin Young of the Sheriff's Department. They were then taken to the Haywood County Sheriff's Department, where they told of being picked up by Rathbone on the morning of Feb. 20, the same day they were reported missing after not arriving at Waynesville Middle School, where they are both enrolled as seventh-graders. |