WAYNE COUNTY, WV (WOWK) — An 18-year-old is facing sexual assault charges out of Wayne County.

According to criminal complaints, Joshua Evan Tackett, of Huntington, allegedly sexually assaulted two juvenile females.

A complaint says the first girl told a Wayne County deputy on April 7 that Tackett had assaulted her twice in the auditorium of Spring Valley High School. She said that he gained access to the locked room on March 14 and told her he was going to have sex with her. She told the deputy she said no, and that after the assault, Tackett threatened to have another female beat her up if she told anyone.

The girl told the deputy that Tackett repeated the assault on March 24 and this time pinned her head under a chair.

The complaint says that the girl received a message from one of Tackett’s former girlfriends saying “All of this would have never happened if you would just keep your mouth shut.”

A second girl told the same deputy on April 8 that Tackett had assaulted her on March 24 in Ceredo, according to another criminal complaint.

Tackett is charged with three counts of 2nd-degree sexual assault, and he is currently out on a $40,000 bond.

13 News reached out to Wayne County Schools for comment, and we were provided with the following statement:

“There was an incident at SVHS resulting in a student being expelled from school for nonconsensual sexual contact. The matter is being investigated by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department and pursued by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. The school’s administration has reviewed the sequence of events to ensure all areas of the facility remain secured or supervised.”

Wayne County Schools

Contact Rape Crisis Center in Huntington is one of many free resources available for sexual assault victims of all ages. They provide counseling and can aid in court hearings, interviews with law enforcement, and more. They believe no victim should have to go through it alone.