Winterville man charged with sexual assault of girl over six years ago

By Joe Johnson

A Winterville man was arrested Wednesday for an alleged sexual assault of a girl over six years ago.

James Aaron Vance, 25, of Robert Hardeman Road was charged with four counts of sexual battery of a child under 16, and two counts of child molestation. According to the Athens-Clarke Count Jail’s website.

Lt. Shaun Barnett, public information officer for the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, said that detectives only recently learned about the alleged crimes.

“It was reported to ACCPD that during a counseling session, a female disclosed that she was molested by a family member several years ago, sometime prior to October of 2016,” he said. “The victim was 7-10 years old at the time of the incident.”

According to Barnett, “It was reported that on at least two occasions, Vance used his hands to touch the victim’s vagina."

Under Georgia law, therapists and professional counselors must report sex crimes against children if they believe their clients might re-offend; The statute of limitations for Vance's alleged offenses is seven years from when they occurred.

As of Thursday afternoon, Vance was being detained at the county jail without bail being set for his release.