A Patrick County grand jury handed down indictments charging a Tennessee man with multiple e sexual offenses against a minor, according to documents on file in the office of Clerk of Court Susan Gasperini. Michael Anthony Carpenter of Morristown, Tenn., was charged with two counts of forcible sodomy of a child under the age of 13 on Oct. 16, 2003; forcible sodomy of a child under the age of 13 while the defendant was 18 years or older at the time of the offense, Dec. 31, 2008; forcible sodomy of a child under the age of 13 between Oct. 16, 2006 and Dec. 31, 2009; possession of child pornography consisting of sexually explicit visual materials in which the subject was younger than 18, between Oct. 16, 2003 and Dec. 31, 2009; aggravated sexual battery of a child under the age of 13, between Oct. 16, 2003, and Dec. 31, 2009; and aggravated sexual battery of a child under the age of 13, between Oct. 16 and Dec. 5, 2009. All the alleged incidents occurred in Patrick County, according to Investigator Betsy Layman. Carpenter was one of about 30 individuals indicted on Monday, the first day of the March term of Patrick County Circuit Court. An indictment is not a finding of guilt or innocence, but is a grand jury’s determination that enough evidence exists to warrant a trial.
