From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
BESSEMER — A Bessemer man is accused of sexually abusing a teen girl over a three-year period, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. The suspect went into hiding in February but was recently found.
Stephen Andrew Shirley, 33, was recently arrested after a teenage girl told a social worker that a family friend had been sexually abusing her in December of 2017. Detectives from Jefferson County Sheriff Youth Services began investigating and found that the alleged abuse had happened over a three-year period.
On Feb. 23 in 2018, detectives obtained warrants against Shirley charging him with sodomy in the first degree, sexual abuse in the first degree and enticing a child for immoral purposes.
According to the JCSO, Shirley went into hiding after learning about the warrants and that he called the victim’s relative and threatened them and the victim. Another warrant was obtained against him charging him with making terroristic threats. The U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force was called to assist in finding him.
On Friday, Aug. 3, Shirley was located and taken into custody. He remains at the Jefferson County Jail on a $120,750 bond.