A 20-year-old man who confessed May 28 to sexually molesting a 4-year-old boy earlier in the day was indicted by the Rhea County Grand Jury Monday, arrested and jailed.

Timothy Brian Smith, 20, of Graysville, was indicted by the Grand Jury on one count of aggravated sexual battery.

Rhea County Domestic Violence Investigator Rocky Potter arrested Smith about an hour later on Dayton Mountain. Smith is currently being held in the Rhea County Jail pending payment of a $25,000 bond.

Potter first learned of the alleged molestation on Thursday, May 27, when deputies Kenny Cox and Cary Taylor responded to County Line Mobile Home Park on Rhea County Highway near Graysville to break up a fight between Smith and the father of the 4-year-old boy.

When the officers arrived, Smith had fled, but the father told the deputies about the alleged assault.

Potter located Smith the next day and he confessed during questioning, according to the investigator.

Rather than arresting Smith, Potter presented the case to the grand jury for an original indictment since its next meeting was less than two weeks away.

Rhea County Sheriff Mike Neal and Potter both said the process is often used when the suspect does not appear to pose a flight risk and poses no threat to the victim.

In this case, the boy no longer lives in Rhea County, according to Potter.

If a suspect is arrested, they must be then arraigned in General Sessions Court and have a preliminary hearing at which time the victim must appear in court to testify against the suspect.

The case can then be bound over to the Grand Jury where, if an indictment is issued, the case is then transferred to Circuit Court where a jury trial can eventually be heard and the victim will have to testify a second time, according to Neal.

"There's no sense in traumatizing the victim twice, if we don't need to," Potter said. "Particularly in cases with children, they sometimes can't stand sitting in the same room with their assailant. Sometimes after a preliminary hearing, they just can't bear the thought of going through the trial."
An arrest also means that investigators must turn all their evidence over to the defense while the case is still in General Sessions Court, sometimes a year or more before the trial.

By presenting the case to the grand jury for an original indictment, Potter says they limit the child's exposure to his or her assailant, cut months off the legal process and save the taxpayers' money.

"If there is a viable threat to the victim, we will absolutely arrest the suspect and place him on a no-contact bond," Potter said. "But that just wasn't the situation in this case."

John Carpenter can be reached at jcarpenter@xtn.net.