SECOND UPDATE: Three people indicted in human trafficking case involving five-year-old now in custody

  On of the three people indicted Friday in connection with human trafficking and sodomy charges in Laurel County was arrested Monday afternoon while the other two have turned themselve in to authorities.

According to Laurel County Sheriff John Root, 49-year-old James Harris was taken into custody without incident at his residence in Lily.

Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, the department’s public affairs officer, said law enforcement received a tip concerning Harris’ whereabouts.

Kentucky State Police Detective Mark Allen and Laurel Sheriff’s Detective James Sizemore went to the residence on Vanzant Road where they located and arrested Harris.

Harris was indicted on 12 counts of first-degree sodomy.

Co-defendants Time Sawyers, 35, and Albert Sawyers, 41, both of Pennington Gap., Va. turn themselves in at the Laurel County Detention Center Monday evening.

Each was indicted on 12 counts of human trafficking and 12 counts of first-degree complicity to commit sodomy. 

The charges stem back as far as July 2002 and continue through June 2005. The victim, who was not identified, was as young as five when the alleged incidents began.

According to the indictment, the Sawyers allegedly subjected the child “to sexual activity through the use of force or coercion for their personal benefit.”

The indictment also alleges that the Sawyers aided and abetted Harris by “failing to prevent him from engaging in deviate sexual intercourse with” the victim.

The indictment was returned following an investigation led by Kentucky State Police Detective Mark Allen. Allen presented the results of the investigation to the grand jury Monday.

Laurel Circuit Court Judge Tom Jensen issued arrest warrants for each defendant after they failed to appear in court for return of indictments. Jensen set a $100,000 cash bond for each.