A 32-year-old Raleigh man already on probation for a violent conviction in New York is now jailed without bail on charges that he sexually abused two young relatives, with police saying the alleged incidents happened at the family home in Raleigh in March and June. Jahquai Xavier Lightfoot-McHarris faces counts of statutory rape of a child 15 or younger, indecent liberties with a child and incest.
According to The News & Observer, Raleigh police arrested Lightfoot-McHarris on June 23 in connection with the alleged assaults, which the newspaper reports occurred on March 25 and June 8. One of the alleged victims, a 15-year-old, reported that Lightfoot-McHarris assaulted her in the middle of the night, while another minor relative reported that he raped her in March, when she was 14, the paper notes.
Evidence Collected, but Key Results Undisclosed
The 14-year-old victim completed a sexual assault kit at a hospital, and that kit was submitted to the state laboratory for testing, the outlet’s reporting states. Court documents reviewed by the paper do not state the results of that testing. During a search on June 9, Raleigh police seized a sheet, a blanket, DNA swabs and photographs, per the same account.
The newspaper’s reporting also notes that a follow-up interview with investigators was not completed because the victim and her mother did not attend scheduled interviews, and that multiple attempts were made to complete a child medical evaluation. Lightfoot-McHarris remains jailed without bail as the case proceeds.
A Prior Conviction and Transferred Probation
Court records tied to the case describe a history of violence predating the current charges. Lightfoot-McHarris previously lived in New York, where he allegedly assaulted a woman in November 2019, and court records attribute to him an allegation that he stomped on and choked another woman following an argument in her car, the report states…