Watauga County Couple Facing Charges That Include Incest And Statutory Rape

The Watauga County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man and woman on multiple charges including statutory rape.

James L. Braswell, 30 of Boone, is charged with incest, felony first-degree statutory rape, three counts of first degree statutory sex offense and indecent liberties with a child and three counts of negligent child abuse with serious physical injury.

Kayla Miller, 30 of Vilas, is charged with three counts of felony negligent child abuse with serious physical injury.

Some of the alleged offenses date back as far as 2022.

According to court documents, the negligent child abuse charges were due to Braswell and Miller allegedly “locking three different victims in a room without food, water or toilet access for extended periods of time with an external locking mechanism and boarded up windows and feeding minimally on the floor of the room.”

Both suspects are being held in the Watauga County Jail.