Man accused of school kidnapping given bond

Published 7:16 am Wednesday, September 15, 2010

A Tennessee man accused of taking a teenage girl from the campus of North Whitfield Middle School without permission earlier this month was given a bond in Whitfield County Superior Court on Tuesday.

James Miles Eady, 21, of 640 Red Clay Road in southern Bradley County, is charged with kidnapping and criminal trespass. According to the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office, a man went to the school on Sept. 3 and attempted to “check out” a 13-year-old girl although he was not on the list of persons authorized to take the girl from school.

After school officials refused to release the girl, the man attempted to enter the school building by another door. When officials learned he was trying to get in, they locked down the campus. But he succeeded in getting the girl to go with him when authorities say she sneaked out during a class change.

With the help of Whitfield sheriff’s office investigators — who were working with a cell phone company to locate “pings” off a cell tower while the girl was using her phone — Chief Ray Grossman of the Cohutta Police Department found Eady and the girl at Red Clay State Park less than two hours later, just north of Cohutta across the state line and around a half-mile from where Eady lives. Deputies from the Whitfield County and Bradley County sheriff’s offices arrived at the scene with the Tennessee agency booking Eady in their jail since they held jurisdiction. Deputies there charged him with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. A few days later Eady was jailed in Whitfield County and charged.

Public Defender Anna Johnson asked Judge Robert Adams for a bond of $10,000 — $5,000 for the criminal trespass charge and $5,000 for the kidnapping charge — and mentioned that “the (district attorney’s) office may not proceed” with the case.

Assistant District Attorney Jason Souther said the case will “probably be dealt with as a misdemeanor.”

Capt. Rick Swiney with the Whitfield sheriff’s office said Eady and the girl met over the summer through a mutual friend.

A spokeswoman with the jail said Eady bonded out late Tuesday afternoon.