By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – A 68-year-old Montevallo man and a 58-year-old Alabaster man have been indicted on felony sex charges involving a mentally disabled victim, and they are now awaiting trial on the charges in Shelby County Circuit Court.

A Shelby County grand jury during its May term returned two-count indictments against Gregory Cox Jr., who lists an address on Graham Street in Montevallo, and Barry Wendell Oliver, who lists an address on Alabama 119 in Alabaster, upholding counts of second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy against both suspects.

The Alabaster Police Department arrested Barry Wendell Oliver, who lists an address on Alabama 119 in Alabaster, on Oct. 23, 2018, and charged him with counts of second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy.

Oliver is the second suspect arrested on the charges by the Alabaster Police Department in the past few weeks, as officers arrested 67-year-old Montevallo resident Gregory Cox Jr. on Sept. 30, 2018, and charged him with the same felonies committed against the same victim.

Cox was released from the Shelby County Jail on Oct. 1, 2018, after posting a $20,000 bond, and Oliver was released from jail on Oct. 24, 2018, after also posting a $20,000 bond.

According to both suspects’ arrest warrants, they allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse and deviate sexual intercourse with a victim “who was incapable of consent by reason of being mentally defective” between July 1 and July 31 of last year.

Oliver is set to appear in Shelby County Circuit Court for an arraignment on June 24, and Cox is set to appear in court for arraignment on July 8.