Authorities in North Carolina charged six brothers with rape and sexual assault for allegedly abusing their now teenage sister. The abuse started when the 16-year-old girl was 4 years old, and continued until the age of 14, police say.
Aaron Jackson , 19, Benjamin Jackson, 19, Nathaniel Jackson 21, Mathew Jackson 23, Jon Jackson, 25, and Eric Jackson 27, were arrested last Tuesday (May 6). Authorities had been investigating the case for a year.
All seven siblings were home schooled, and mostly “kept to themselves” according to a neighbor.The parents, 65-year-old John Jackson and 54-year-old Nita Jackson, face felony child abuse charges because they witnessed the incest. “Personally, I lay the blame on the parents, and their charges are less than what the boys are going to get,” Perquimans County Sheriff Eric Tilley said. “It’s their responsibilities to raise those kids and somewhere along the line, they failed.”
In 2012, the eldest brother, Eric, confessed to a family pastor who encouraged him to call police. “How many people are going to walk into a law enforcement office and say ‘I had sex with my sister?’ It just doesn’t happen,” noted Talley. “But that’s one thing… these kids, they do have a belief in the Bible. They knew it was wrong and they had to get it out.”
During the investigation, the parents wouldn’t allow the girl to talk to deputies and later relocated to Colorado. The cross-country move is what ended up getting them busted. The girl contacted Colorado Child Protective Services, who turned the case over to police.
The six men showed no emotion upon turning themselves in, according to Tilley. “The first kid it seems to be like a relief, but even when they came to turn themselves in last week, it was like, ‘We’re here.’ I don’t think they know the magnitude of what they’d done because I don’t think they know it was wrong. They haven’t been taught any differently.”
Five of the six brothers were charged with multiple counts of either rape, rape of a child, or statutory rape, in addition to other offenses. All six are being held on $150,000 bond and awaiting arraignment.
The parents were released on $15,000 bond.
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Photo: Perquimans County Sheriff’s Office
