From The Tribune staff reports
PELL CITY — A St. Clair County man was arrested here on Thursday evening, charged with five separate counts of sexual crimes, including three counts of sex abuse against a child.
Eddie King, 77, of Cropwell, was taken into custody by St. Clair Sheriff’s deputies and charged with first-degree sodomy, second-degree sodomy and three counts of sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old.
King was booked into the St. Clair County Jail at 5:48 p.m. on Thursday on $500,000 bond. He bonded out at 6:40 p.m.
A grand jury indicted King on the charges last week, St. Clair County District Attorney Lyle Harmon said, and then King subsequently surrendered himself at the jail.
Each sodomy count is a Class A felony, carrying a penalty of 10 to 99 years for each count, Harmon said; the sexual abuse counts are Class B felonies, and carry a penalty of 2-20 years for each count, if King is found guilty. No trial date has been set at this point.
This story will be updated when further details become available.