The family of one of the child victims filed a complaint with the sheriff s office Feb. 25. Det. Mark Ellenberger said it took two months for the arrest while the office was investigating and then presented the evidence to the grandy jury, which released the indictments April 26.
McKinney’s next court date is May 20 for a previous charge of misdemeanor child abuse. He is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 30 for the recent 24 indictments.
The District Attorney’s Office for Henderson, Polk and Transylvania counties is the prosecutor in the case. Andrew Murray, former U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, was named May 3 by Gov. Roy Cooper as the new DA.