From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
PELL CITY — A man accused in human trafficking and sexual abuse charges was denied bond on Aug. 28, 2019.
Pell City authorities said Brent Lee Higginbotham, 27, of Ragland, is accused of soliciting a teenager for sex. The teen was in a parking lot on Main Street South when police said she was approached by Higginbotham. The teen said Higginbotham blocked the door of her car and made sexual comments to her.
The incident in Pell City happened on Saturday, Aug. 17. He was arrested on Monday, Aug. 19. He is being held in the St. Clair County Jail with no bond.
Higginbotham
Higginbotham was out on bond in connection to a 2018 case in Trussville. Police said the 14-year-old victim told them that Higginbotham grabbed her in the parking lot of Trussville Crossing Shopping Center on Chalkville Mountain Road.
The victim was able to get away. Higginbotham was charged with one count of first-degree sexual abuse by force and a second charge of second-degree sexual abuse due to the age of the victim.
The trial date for Higginbotham has not yet been set in Jefferson County.
There will be a preliminary hearing on the St. Clair County charges on Sept. 11.
The judge in the case refused to give the defendant a bond for the St. Clair County case, saying Higginbotham being at large “poses a real and present danger to others or to the public at large.”
