A man is facing more than 150 charges relating to incest, gross neglect, and the sexual abuse of his daughter.
Kenneth Ray Cook, 44, has been accused of starting an abusive and incestuous relationship with his daughter, against her will, when she was just nine years old in 2012.
The abuse allegedly carried on until last year, when she was 21, and resulted in the birth of three children.
Highlights
- Kenneth Ray Cook faces over 150 charges, including incest, sexual abuse, and gross neglect involving his daughter.
- The abuse allegedly began in 2012 when the victim was 9 and continued until 2024, resulting in three children born from the incestuous relationship.
- Cook remains jailed on a $500,000 bond, facing potential sentences totaling decades for child neglect, sexual abuse, and related crimes.
Kenneth Ray Cook is facing over 150 charges relating to the abuse of his daughter
Cook, of Raleigh County, is also facing further charges regarding the neglect of those children, WVVA reports.
Law enforcement officials reportedly found the three children to be suffering from neglect.
Court records also confirmed that a child, aged 1, was discovered in a neglectful condition.
According to the court documents reviewed by PEOPLE, Cook was arrested and charged back in April for sexual abuse, sexual assault, incest, and child neglect.
On June 3, he was indicted on more allegations and is now facing a further 149 charges.
The most recent incident of incest is alleged to have occurred in July 2024, PEOPLE reports.
Given that the alleged abuse began when the victim was 9 years old, it is likely that the charges of incest would fall under the Class 5 felony category.
Cook remains behind bars on a $500,000 bond
Photo by Matthew Ansley on Unsplash
This carries a penalty of 1 to 10 years in prison per charge.
Cook is also facing a charge relating to child neglect resulting in serious injury, and this could have a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
Further allegations against him relate to sexual assault in the third degree, which could add up to five years to any sentence he receives.
The charges Cook faces of sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, or custodian to a child carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Cook has been charged with a total of 157 crimes and remains in Southern Regional Jail on a $500,000 bond, WVVA reports.
The outlet reports that 149 of those charges relate to gross neglect of a child creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.
In a similar case, former church pastor Scott Haught was sentenced to 25 years in prison for sexually abusing his daughters.
Haught, 54, was found guilty of nine felony criminal sexual conduct charges earlier this year and sentenced in June.
When released, he will be put on the sex offenders register and will spend the rest of his life on electronic monitoring.