By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

PELHAM—The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office apprehended a Pelham man on charges of second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy on June 5.

Justin Robert Welkenback, 19, was arrested after a police investigation into a report filed “by the teenage victim’s parents” on June 3, Sgt. Clay Hammac of the Sheriff’s Office said.

“The State of Alabama Criminal Code has variances that have to be met to fit the (charges),” Hammac said, noting age stipulations in the law. “The age of consent is 16.”

Welkenback has been charged with second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy, both Class B felonies, according to court documents.

According to the Criminal Code of Alabama, “a person commits the crime for rape in the second degree if: being 16 years of older, he or she engages in sexual intercourse with a member of the opposite sex less than 16 and more than 12 year old; provided however, the actor is at least two years older than the member of the opposite sex. He or she engages in sexual intercourse with a member of the opposite sex who is incapable of consent by reason of being mentally defective.”

The Criminal Code of Alabama states sodomy in the second degree is committed if “he being 16 years or older, engages in deviate sexual intercourse with another person less than 16 and more than 12 years old. He engages in deviate sexual intercourse with a person who is incapable of consent by reason of being mentally defective.”

Class B felonies carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, if convicted of both felonies, Welkenback could face up to 40 years in prison.