A press release from the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office says a 38-year-old man from Charleston was arrested on November 11, 2023 for sexual abuse in a case dating back to 2021. Detective J.R. Coleman initiated an investigation in July 2021 after a victim who was 16 at the time went to CAMC Women’s and Children’s Hospital with a complaint of being sexually abused. The alleged victim identified Brandon Adkins as the attacker. Police say Adkins was the boyfriend of the girl’s adopted mother at the time and was 36 years old.

On the night of the attack, the victim was reportedly in the care of Adkins. In early 2022, the West Virginia State Police Crime Lab notified Detective Coleman that DNA was found on the evidence collected from the victim. The lab requested a DNA sample from Mr. Adkins who managed to avoid law enforcement for over a year until he was incarcerated at South Central Regional Jail on an unrelated charge.

While Adkins was at the jail, detectives executed a search warrant for his DNA. Since then, the West Virginia Police Crime Lab confirmed that the DNA is a match to the DNA evidence originally collected from the victim, according to a release from the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office. An arrest warrant was obtained for one felony count of sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, custodian, or person of trust to a child before Mr. Adkins was arrested.