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ELKINS -- A Florida man who was arrested over the weekend for allegedly inappropriately touching a juvenile boy at the Mountain State Forest Festival carnival had his original charge dismissed and was re-charged Thursday.
James Arthur Jones, 66, is charged with one felony count of first-degree sexual abuse. He is free on a $10,000 cash or surety bond set by Randolph County Magistrate Ben Shepler.
The prosecution dismissed his original charge of one misdemeanor count of third-degree sexual abuse.
On Saturday, Cpl. G.L. Brown, of the Elkins Police Department, received a complaint from three male juveniles about an incident that occurred while they were at the carnival.
All three juveniles were 16 years of age. One of the juveniles provided a written statement saying three "older gentlemen" walked toward them, appearing to be intoxicated and started shaking their hands.
The alleged victim said one of the men identified himself as Jones, started grabbing his hand, told him that he was attractive and said he would like to "get with" him and his friends, according to a criminal complaint filed in Randolph County Magistrate Court.
The juvenile said Jones then grabbed him by the waist and tried to get closer to him while "smacking his butt," the complaint states.
Jones also invited the alleged victim and his friends to smoke marijuana and drink alcohol at his area hotel room. At that time, the two other adult males with Jones had left the scene and Jones tried to make the boys sniff something he referred to as "Platinum," according to the criminal complaint.
The alleged victim said Jones continued to remind them of the marijuana and alcohol at his room and once again grabbed him around the waist, telling him to "come at midnight." The other two juveniles also provided statements that corroborated that of the alleged victim, the complaint states.
Brown then traveled to the hotel where Jones was alleged to be staying, and the front desk clerk reported there was a Jim Jones staying in the room number given by the alleged victim. The clerk said two other males were also staying in the room but the reservation was in Jones' name, police said.
The clerk also said Jones was from Florida, which also corroborated information given by the juveniles, the complaint states.
If convicted, Jones could be sentenced to not less than one nor more than five years in the state penitentiary, fined not more than $10,000, or both.