After nationwide search, Lexington woman charged again over relationship with minor
A Lexington woman was charged in Michigan this week after allegedly having sex with the same minor she was accused of having sexual relations with last year, according to media reports.
Tiffany Shepherd, 27, faces charges of kidnapping and third-degree sexual conduct with a minor, according to Van Buren County jail records. In August 2018, she was charged in Fayette County Kentucky with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of first-degree sodomy.
She was accused of subjecting a “victim under 16 to sexual contact at two different locations in Lexington,” according to court records. Michigan police say they found Shepherd on Tuesday following a nationwide search after she left Kentucky earlier this month with the same girl, according to the Herald-Palladium.
When police received a tip Shepherd was staying with relatives in Bangor, police went to the residence and found Shepherd in a bedroom and the 15-year-old victim in a closet, Bangor Police Chief Tommy Simpson told the Herald-Palladium.
Simpson told FOX 17 that Shepherd got to Michigan with the minor after renting a U-Haul. The police department said Shepherd drove the victim across multiple states and attempted to evade authorities by staying in various locations.
There were ramen noodles scattered across the floor of the apartment where Shepherd had been hiding for a week, FOX 17 reported. Shepherd was “defiant” and “less than cooperative” when Bangor police were attempting to arrest her, FOX 17 said.
Assistant prosecutor Jay Blair said Shepherd had been court ordered in Kentucky to not have any contact with the minor, but she did anyway.
“She’s an extremely high flight risk,” Blair said during Shepherd’s arraignment, according to the Herald-Palladium. “She’s facing charges in Kentucky, took a child out of Kentucky and brought her to Michigan. She told police she was aware of charges in Kentucky and that’s why she left.”
The girl will be transferred back to Kentucky, FOX 17 reported. Court records show Shepherd is due back in Fayette County Circuit Court on Nov. 8 for a status hearing. She is currently being held in the Michigan jail on a $250,000 bond.
This story was originally published October 25, 2019 at 7:46 AM.