A Burke County man accused of sexually assaulting two young girls was denied bond for a second time Wednesday, Jan. 19.
James S. Young, 47, faces multiple sexual assault charges including rape. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges in Burke County Superior Court. He has been held without bond since July 2020.
Young, a registered sex offender, is accused of molesting one girl from November 2015 through April 30, 2020, and of assaulting a second, younger child in April 2020.
Young was initially denied bond in February. Wednesday, defense attorney Kara Stangl asked Judge Ashley Wright to reconsider releasing Young on bond. He is in poor health after suffering two heart attacks and COVID infections since he has been in custody, Stangl said.
Young could return to work as a carpenter and has a place to live if released, Stangl said.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Geoffrey Alls told the judge he opposed bond not only based on the serious accusations pending in the indictment but because law enforcement officers had learned that Young also offered the children to other men for sexual encounters. There are pictures of some of the abuse by another man, Alls said.
Young was convicted in 1995 of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and sexual battery. He was also convicted in 2006 of failing to register as a sex offender, according to court records.
