Two Rhea County men have been arrested for statutory rape of two 16-year-old girls over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Jerry Wayne Gardner, 23, of Richland St., Dayton, was arrested Monday, and Kenneth Whaley, 20, of Harmon St., Graysville, was arrested on Dec. 5.

The victims, wards of the state and residents of a girls' home in Cookeville, got a Thanksgiving pass to go home for the holiday, one to her mother's residence in Red Bank and the other to her mother's home in Graysville, according to Graysville Police Chief Walt Kaylor and Sergeant Tony Moore.

One girl got permission from her mother to stay Thanksgiving night with the girl from Graysville, according to a police report. The mother of the later left the girls at her home with Gardner and went to Mississippi to pick up a relative. While she was gone, Gardner had sex with the girl from Red Bank, and Whaley went to the house and had sex with the other girl, according to the report. The mother didn't return home until 3:30 Friday morning.

When questioned by Kaylor and Moore, Gardner admitted to having protected sex with the girl from Red Bank.

Whaley was released from the Rhea County Jail after posting a $5,000 bond and was arraigned on Friday in Rhea County Circuit Court. Gardner is still in the Rhea County Jail pending payment of a $5,000 bond. He is scheduled for arraignment today in Rhea County Circuit Court.

The girls are back at home in Cookeville.

Vanessa Dunn can be reached at vdunn@xtn.net.