UPDATE: ATHENS, Ala. (WGNS) — Investigators with the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office have arrested a man accused of traveling from Franklin, Tennessee, to Limestone County after allegedly engaging in sexually explicit online communications with a child and arranging an in-person meeting for illegal sexual activity.
According to Limestone County officials, 26-year-old Kong Ngundeng Pal, a citizen of Beirut, Lebanon, was taken into custody following an investigation into the electronic solicitation of a child. Authorities said the case began on or about January 20, 2026, when a child in Limestone County was contacted online by Pal, who was then living in Franklin, Tennessee. Investigators determined Pal engaged in sexually explicit conversations with the child and made plans to meet in person for unlawful sex acts.
Sheriff’s officials said Pal left Franklin during the early morning hours of Sunday, January 18, traveling south along Interstate 65 and arriving in Limestone County around 2 a.m. Limestone County includes the city of Athens and portions of Huntsville, roughly an hour and 20 minutes south of Franklin…