Keavy man charged with sexual abuse, sodomy of four-year-old

A Keavy man is being held in the Laurel County Correctional Facility on a $100,000 cash bond after police say he sexually abused and sodomized a four-year-old in 2017.

Kentucky State Police arrested Joshua A. Towe, 23, on a warrant secured following an investigation by Detective Jesse Armstrong.

According to the warrant, between May 1, 2017 and Oct. 1, 2017, Towe admitted to repeatedly sexually assaulting the child whom he was caring for while the mother was a work.

According to the warrant, the victim told police on two occasions that the incidents, which involved three different types of sexual contact occurred multiple times.

“The offender gave a recorded statement wherein he admitted to these crimes,” Armstrong wrote in the warrant.

A not-guilty plea was entered on Towe’s behalf at his arraignment Monday in Laurel District Court. Kentucky law does not permit a defendant to plead guilty to a felony charge in district court.

Towe is scheduled to return to court on Tuesday for a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is probable cause to present the case to the grand jury.

If Towe is able to post bond, he is to have no further contact with the victim and is subject to home incarceration.

Under Kentucky law, first-degree sodomy involving a victim under the age of 12 is a class A felony, carrying a potential prison of 20 to 50 years, or life in prison.