From Staff Reports
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A 22-year-old registered sex offender from Perry County is currently out on bond after being charged with raping a teenage girl in Jones County last summer.
Benjamin Ryan Smith, 22, was arrested Jan. 9 and booked into the Jones County Adult Detention Center on charges of sexual battery and rape. According to published reports, the charges stem from an incident that occurred last May at a residence he maintained on Sanford Road in Moselle. The victim was taken to Forrest General Hospital after reporting the alleged assault to her mother. The original investigation was initiated by the Jones County Sheriff’s Department at the hospital at that time.
The Dispatch does not identify victims of sexual assault, but published reports indicate the mother of the victim and Smith have family ties.
Smith’s current sex-offender registration, which was updated this past December, lists an address on Miss. 29 near Runnelstown as his permanent address. Smith’s sex-offender status stems from a 2016 conviction for sexual battery in Forrest County when he was 16.
Jones County Justice Court Judge Grant Hedgepeth set Smith’s bond at $250,000 the day after his arrest on this latest charge. He was released from the detention center in Jones County on Jan. 12 after posting that bond.
