Arrests made in kidnapping, rape
Published 9:40 pm Thursday, March 17, 2011
Michael Smith, 48, from Selma was arrested for the March 14 kidnapping, rape and sodomy of a 15-year old girl.
According to authorities, Smith was reportedly asked to pick up the girl and bring her home. Instead of bringing her home, he allegedly drove her to a remote part of the county where he forced her to have sex, Dallas County Sheriffs Chief Deputy Randy Pugh said.
“The suspect then brought the victim to the edge of town and left her there,” Pugh said. “The victim then notified her mother and the authorities.”
Pugh said Smith was arrested Tuesday after investigators met with and interviewed people tied to the case.
District Attorney Michael Jackson also reported Wednesday that Clifford “Don” Twilley, the chairman of the Wilcox County Board of Education, had been indicted by a Wilcox grand jury on the charge of buying votes.
According to a release from Jackson’s office, Twilley is charged with buying votes in the June 2010 primaries in Wilcox County.
His bond is set at $5,000 and he will be arraigned later in circuit court in the coming months.
Jackson said the indictment was the result of “an extensive investigation” by his office into voter fraud.