FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIENDSVILLE MAN CHARGED WITH STATUTORY RAPE BY AN AUTHORITY FIGURE
Blount County Sheriff James Lee Berrong said a 34-year-old Friendsville man was charged with two counts of statutory rape by an authority figure after the investigation revealed the man, who at the time was a teacher at Maryville Rock Academy, had sexual encounters with a 16-year-old old female student.
Jeremy R. Cook, Dunlap Hollow Road, Friendsville, is being held on bonds totaling $150,000 pending a hearing in Blount County General Sessions Court at 9 a.m. March 23rd.
The victim reported to Sheriff’s deputies that Cook was her instructor at Maryville Rock Academy. She told deputies he befriended her on Facebook after she became a student at the academy. She said he began messaging and calling her on a regular basis. On two separate occasions in 2015, he drove the victim to his house where they engaged in sexual activity. The victim and her parents reported the incidents to the Sheriff’s Office in January 2016.
Following the investigation, investigators took Cook into custody at the Blount County Justice Center where he was served with two warrants charging him with statutory rape by an authority figure.
The Sheriff’s Office is asking that if any other juveniles were victimized by Cook to please contact the Sheriff’s Office Investigations Unit at 865.273.5001 during regular business hours.
–Blount County Sheriff’s Office