Murphy – A man recently acquitted of sex crimes in Cherokee County has been returned to jail and had his bond set at $450,000 by Judge William Coward during an Oct. 26 hearing in Cherokee County Superior Court.
Court documents show that James Allen Bass, 23, was allegedly living with his mother when he was arrested. Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Joe Wood went to the WestWind Apartments in Andrews to detain him after a separate person Bass allegedly sexually assaulted was contacted through the Snapchat profile of Alex Gamble, one of Bass’ friends, on July 31. However, Bass was found to be in Polk County, Tenn., causing the court to revoke his probation. One of the stipulations for his probation was that he have no contact with the alleged victims, including through a third party.
Bass was tried in late July on charges of first-degree forcible rape, second-degree kidnapping and felonious assault stemming from an alleged June 2, 2018, incident. Bass was found not guilty on the charges of first-degree forcible rape, second-degree kidnapping and felonious assault at the end of the trial. However, on July 27, he was found guilty of simple assault and sentenced to supervised probation.
A french fry emoji, which reportedly had special meaning between Bass and the victim, was messaged in the conversation. The emoji was what the victim in question claimed as confirmation that Bass was involved in sending the message.
During a Sept. 22 interview with Detective Roger Williams, Gamble said he stopped communicating with Bass, but was with him on the night the victim received the messages. After receiving the messages, the victim contacted Ciara Jones form the District Attorney’s Office. Due to how distraught the victim was, Jones was advised to make a 911 report by assistant district attorney Kimberly Harris.
However, Bass’ attorney, Rich Cassady, said going off the french fry emoji alone was not enough to ensure it was indeed Bass sending the messages. He sharply criticized the $450,000 bond Coward set at the request of the DA’s office, calling it “outrageous.”
“(Coward) sets a $450,000 bond on a french fry emoji, and Jimmy will sit in jail until I can try him again,” Cassady said.
Bass’ case was continued until Monday.