AHOSKIE – An Ahoskie man is jailed, held under a half-million dollar bond, following an investigation that led to his arrest on multiple felony counts of allegedly engaging in sexual intercourse with an underage girl.

Christopher Perry Forehand, 26, of Liverman Court Drive, made his initial appearance Tuesday in Hertford County District Court to answer the 61 felony counts lodged against him.

Hertford County Sheriff Juan Vaughan said Forehand was arrested Sept. 9 and charged with 40 counts of statutory rape of a child; 10 counts each of statutory sex offense with a child, and crime against nature; and one count of taking indecent liberties with a child.

The court records indicate that the victim was age 15-or-under at the time the alleged sexual activity occurred.

“I sympathize with the family of the victim in this case, but I’m relieved that this was brought to our attention by the mother of the victim and through our investigation we were able to make an arrest,” Sheriff Vaughan stated.

Vaughan added that Forehand has not made bond and remains incarcerated.

According to the Sheriff, the investigation began Aug. 31 after the victim’s mother called Hertford County Emergency Communications to report that her daughter was missing. HCSO Investigator Marcus Chichester and Deputy Tyrone Ruffin responded.

“The mother noted that her daughter was not in her bedroom at around 3:30 a.m. on the morning of Aug. 31 and could not get her to respond to cell phone calls and text messages,” Vaughan said. “The mother also told my officers this was not the first time that her daughter had snuck out of the house at night.”

Later, when the young girl was located, she was interviewed by Chichester at which time she shared information about being with Forehand.

“She told us that she had been seeing Mr. Forehand for a little more than one month and that she would frequently visit his residence,” Vaughan said. “She also admitted that she and Mr. Forehand would often call or text each other.”

The case against Forehand began to build after Chichester obtained a search warrant on the cell phones of the two individuals involved this case.

“With the help of Lt. Thompson of the Northampton’s Sheriff’s Office, we were able to recover the majority of deleted photos and text messages from the cell phones of the victim and Mr. Forehand,” Vaughan stated. “Some of those photos and messages led us to believe there was much more involved in this other than just casual visits to Mr. Forehand’s residence.”

The Sheriff added that another interview was scheduled with the victim and when she was confronted with the evidence found on the cell phones, the teen admitted to a relationship with Forehand that actually dated back to July of last year.

“She also alleged that the first time she and Mr. Forehand engaged in sexual intercourse was in early January of this year and between that time and August they engaged in intercourse on approximately 40 occasions,” the Sheriff concluded.