Asheville – A Robbinsville man has been sentenced to 144 months in prison for sexual abuse of a minor.
Joseph Dwayne Jumper, 39, received his sentence in U.S. District Court on June 18. Additionally, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger ordered Jumper to serve a lifetime of supervised release and also register as a sex offender.
Court documents explain that Jumper – an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians – sexually abused a minor girl who was in his care between July and August 2018. The acts took place on the Indian Reservation in Graham County, and Jumper admitted in court that the abuse took place on multiple occasions.
Following an investigation by the Cherokee Indian Police Department, Jumper pled guilty to two counts of abusive sexual contact of a child under 12 on Jan. 3.