LAWRENCE COUNTY – An investigation by Special Agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation into allegations of child sex abuse has resulted in the indictment of a Lawrence County couple and their adult son.

At the request of 22^nd District Attorney General Brent Cooper, in August, TBI Special Agents began investigating allegations of child sex abuse by individuals in Lawrence County. Agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, investigating a case of child sex abuse in Georgia, developed information with a nexus to Tennessee, and provided that information to TBI Agents. During the course of the investigation, Agents identified a Leoma couple and their adult son as individuals responsible for, or knowing about, child abuse-related crimes there in 2019.

On September 15^th, the Lawrence County Grand Jury returned indictments charging the following:  Jeffrey Wade Howell (DOB 04/26/1962), one count Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child, one count Statutory Rape by an Authority Figure, Glenda Sue Howell (DOB 01/21/1959), one count Failure to Report Known or Suspected Child Abuse, and Donnie Wayne Jackson (DOB 08/09/1973) of Cumming, Georgia, one count Sexual Battery by an Authority Figure. Jeffrey Howell and Jackson are in custody at separate jails in Georgia, and detainers have been placed on them for these current charges. Glenda Howell was arrested on September 16^th. She was booked into the Lawrence County Jail and released after posting a $10,000 bond.