Man charged with sexually abusing child

A Franklin County man was arrested Wednesday after being accused of sexually abusing a young girl.

Brenton Dion Nix, 36, 6052 Highway 22, Spruce Pine, has been charged with first-degree sexual abuse for abusing a child under 12 years old.

According to authorities, investigators with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department received information from the Department of Human Resources that there was a victim who claimed to have been sexually abused by the defendant.

Investigators said the defendant allegedly touched the victim inappropriately and forced the victim to touch him as well from the time the victim was 7 until she was 13.

After the defendant was formally charged, he was arrested at a local business, officials said.

Officers with the Russellville Police Department assisted in the arrest.

Investigators also said that they seized the defendant’s personal computer after the defendant admitted to having teenage pornography stored on the computer.

However, according to other witnesses, the people depicted in the images appeared to be between the ages of 6 and 16.

The computer was sent to specialists with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation to have the images analyzed, officials said.

The case is still under investigation.

Nix is being held in the Franklin County Jail on a $ 50,000 bond.