UPDATE: Abingdon woman accused on 10 counts of child rape

BRISTOL, Tenn. – An Abingdon woman was arrested Tuesday after police accused her of raping her live-in girlfriend’s young daughter at least 11 times in three years. The couple lived together with the middle-school-aged child in a Bristol, Tenn., trailer park from 2003 to 2007.

Gwendolyn D. Hagerman, 42, of Norfolk Street in Abingdon, was indicted by a Tennessee grand jury Tuesday, then arrested at her home about 6:30 p.m. She is charged with 10 counts of rape of a child and one count of statutory rape, the Bristol Tennessee Police Department said in a written statement.

Rape of a child, according to the Tennessee Code, is a Class A felony that requires the sexual penetration of a child between the ages of 3 and 13. Police said the assaults began when the girl was 11 years old. The statutory rape charge stems from an incident that occurred after the child’s 13th birthday.

Bristol Tennessee Police Capt. Charlie Thomas said the department began investigating the case in May 2008, when the state Department of Children’s Services became involved.

The girl and her mother had moved away from Bristol in 2007, he said. Some time later, Hagerman wrote the child a letter that was intercepted by her mother, who claims to have had no knowledge of the attacks. The letter did not specify a sexual relationship, but its romantic nature aroused suspicion. So the mother started asking questions, and discovered that Hagerman had “bragged” about incidents with her daughter to people in their Bristol, Tenn., neighborhood, Thomas said.

Officers tracked down those neighbors during their 18-month-long investigation.

The investigating detective, Justin Branson, said he found no criminal history for Hagerman. But, Thomas said, they’re looking for more victims to come forward.

“We want to know if this person did this to other kids,” Thomas said. “Sexual predators very rarely limit themselves to one victim.”

Hagerman rented her Abingdon trailer with another woman when she moved from Bristol about a month ago, according to her landlord and neighbor Russell Young. Young said it’s the second time he rented to Hagerman; she lived there for some time before moving to Bristol about 10 years ago.

The Abingdon Police Department assisted with Hagerman’s arrest. She is being held without bond at the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail awaiting extradition to Tennessee. The Sullivan County District Attorney’s office said a court date has not yet been set.

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EARLIER TODAY:

An Abingdon woman is in jail today, being held without bond, after an investigation into charges of raping a child.

The Bristol Tennessee Police Department reports that they arrested Gwendolyn D. Hagerman, 42, of 602 Norfolk St. Lot 3, Abingdon, today on 10 counts of rape of a child and one county of statutory rape after an investigation that began in 2008.

Hagerman is currently being held in the Southwest Regional Jail, pending an extradition hearing to Tennessee.