COLBERT COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — A Kentucky man accused of raping a teen in 2024 has pleaded not guilty and a jury trial for the case has been set for June.
On March 19, court documents show that Justin Stephens, charged with rape, filed a plea of not guilty and a waiver of arraignment. The document says he is pleading not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
Stephens was originally charged with second-degree rape, traveling to meet a child for sex and enticing a child to enter a vehicle or house after he pretended to be a girl’s father to check her out from school in Sept. 2024. He wasn’t arrested for this until October.
Court records show he checked out the girl from Central High School, saying she needed to be checked out. Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Casson said Stephens had been messaging with the girl for a while.
The school’s security cameras showed the girl leaving school around 9 a.m. and getting into a black Dodge truck, according to court records.
The documents also show that he took her to an abandoned house in Florence, and school security footage showed her returning to the school around 2 p.m. the same day.
Records show he was indicted on January 17 for rape, and on March 7, a Lauderdale County Circuit Court Judge granted that Stephens be transferred from the Lauderdale County Detention Center to the custody of the Colbert County Sheriff’s Office.
Once in the Colbert County Jail, Stephens was given additional charges. According to jail records, Stephens is now charged with:
- First-degree rape
- Second-degree rape
- Two counts of electronic solicitation of a child
- Second-degree sodomy
- Interference with custody
- Two counts of travelling to meet a child for unlawful sex act
On March 31, the teen’s mother filed a lawsuit against Stephens as well as the high school’s administrators, claiming they are guilty of negligence because they failed to follow the written rules provided by the school regarding the check-in and check-out policies, as well as failing to verify the identity of Stephens before releasing the teen into his custody.
The lawsuit mentions the following people:
- Central High School Principal Duana Keener
- Central High School Assistant Principal Greta Erwin
- Central High School Secretary Elizabeth Shelton
- Six unnamed parties involved in “receiving, processing/facilitating the check-out” of the teenager into the custody of Justin Stephens.
In the lawsuit, the victim’s mother states that “written rules of CHS require all check-ins and check-outs to be processed in person through the main office, and the person checking the student out must present in person to the main office and provide photo identification.”
It also says that check-ins and check-outs are “not allowed until the check-out has been verified by the parent/guardian of the student, and that the person checking the student out must present a note with the parent/guardian’s signature and phone number.”
The lawsuit states that these rules are in place to limit and prevent harm to students, which can happen when school officials “act beyond their authority and/or fail to follow the written protocols” of the school.
You can read more details from the lawsuit filed by the teen’s mother here.
According to court documents, Stephens is set to appear in court for a jury trial on June 9. He is also set for a pretrial docket hearing on May 20 in Colbert County.
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