On Monday, the Blount County Grand Jury handed down 14 indictments on 45-year-old Anthony Duke Soto, Academy Drive, Friendsville for the following charges:

• Continuous sexual abuse of a child

• Aggravated child abuse/neglect

• Child abuse/neglect

• Four counts of sexual battery by an authority figure

• Seven counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor

The Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation into Soto in August 2022 after three female teenage victims reported that they had been sexually abused by Soto on his boat. The victims reported that Soto offered them marijuana and alcohol and then touched them sexually. Over the course of the investigation, additional teenage girls came forward and reported that Soto victimized them at his residence and property. Sheriff’s investigators interviewed multiple juveniles, including family members, who disclosed that Soto abused them sexually and/or physically. Earlier this year, investigators conducted a search warrant with the assistance of the Sheriff’s Office SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team and seized evidence pertaining to the case.

Members of the U.S. Marshals Service Smokey Mountain Fugitive Task Force arrested Soto at his residence in Friendsville Monday evening.

Soto is being held in the Blount County Correctional Facility on bonds totaling $750,000 pending a hearing in Blount County Circuit Court at 9 a.m. April 10, 2023.