HENDERSON COUNTY, N.C. —
A man has been convicted and sentenced in Henderson County for sex crimes against a child.
An observant camper tipped Henderson County deputies, who rescued the 13-year-old from Kenneth Whitehead, 25, of Bristol, Tennessee, who took her hundreds of miles from her family and used her for sex.
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A Henderson County jury found Whitehead guilty of two counts of statutory rape,
The victim, who was 13 in 2016 at the time of the crimes, testified against Whitehead.
Whitehead and the girl were camping at the North Mills River Campground when they asked another camper for food, saying they were hungry and had no money. The girl told the camper she was 18 and gave a false name. Whitehead also gave a false name.
The camper helped them and gathered information they provided in casual conversation, that he then shared with the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff’s Office investigators determined that the girl was actually a 13-year-old missing from Missouri.
Investigators said Whitehead admitted to having sex with the child at least twice.
“The defendant apparently met the 13-year-old through a mutual friend in Tennessee,” District Attorney Greg Newman said. “He claimed to be helping her deal with a troubled home situation, but the truth is that he saw a vulnerable teen and he used her for his own sexual gratification.
“In addition to the obvious immorality of his acts, it was also dangerous to this child, whose mother was sick with worry hundreds of miles away in the Midwest.”
Newman said those who victimize the young, elderly and others who are vulnerable are “dangerous people and need to be dealt with in the most serious and severe terms.”
Newman said he appreciated the man at the campground who “had enough concern and suspicion to question the situation.”
“His contribution to this case cannot be understated and it speaks well of him and our community at large,” Newman said.
The jury convicted Whitehead after two hours of deliberation. The judge sentenced him to 58 years and three months in prison. He will not be eligible for supervised release for at least 40 years.
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