Teenager charged with rape of minor

    Blue Ridge, Ga. – A Murphy, N.C., teenager who recently moved across the state line is charged with statutory rape.
    Dru Jordyn Baine, 19, is accused of having sex with a Cherokee County resident who was 13 years old. The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office learned of the alleged sexual assault in October 2019 and conducted an investigation with assistance from HAVEN Children’s Advocacy Center, the Cherokee County Department of Social Services, Appalachian Children’s Center in East Ellijay and the McCaysville Police Department.
    “These cases are not solved overnight, as we see on television,” Sheriff Derrick Palmer said in a release announcing Baine’s arrest.
    A Cherokee County grand jury issued an indictment on May 18 charging Baine with statutory rape of a child by an adult and taking indecent liberties with children, both of which are felony offenses.
    Baine was arrested in Georgia on June 13 by a member of the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office. Court documents say he moved to Georgia during the investigation because his family in North Carolina “does not allow the defendant to be at their home or around them.”
    Baine waived extradition and was transported last week to the Cherokee County Detention Center in Murphy, where he is being held on a $250,000 secured bond. Baine has a court date scheduled for Monday, Aug. 3.