Charles David Pugh
An aggravated statutory rape charge was dismissed on Monday morning against a man police say may have had at least eight sexual abuse victims.
General Sessions Court Judge Clarence Shattuck said the proof did not demonstrate that the alleged offense happened within the four-year statute of limitations.
Charles David Pugh had been arrested last November.
Judge Shattuck ruled after hearing testimony from both County Detective Ed Merritt and an alleged victim who was 20 at the time he said he was raped by Pugh on numerous occasions at Pugh's then-residence at 3936 Churchill Road.
Police said earlier that the statute of limitations has expired on many of the alleged incidents, but not on the latest charge.
However, after hearing testimony, Judge Shattuck said it appeared it was filed too late. The alleged victim earlier said the last time he was allegedly orally sodomized by Pugh was between Nov. 1, 2010, and Dec. 23, 2010. However, he testified Monday that it was between October and November 2010.
Pugh, a former engineer and shop machinist at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, was represented by attorney Lee Davis.
Pugh now lives at 315 James Blvd., Signal Mountain, according to information he gave the jail.
Police said Pugh was employed "in a capacity that placed him in a position of trust and limited authority over young men."
The sheriff's office said on June 6, 2014, it received a sexual abuse report from the Tennessee Department of Children's Services.
The affidavit against Pugh says, "In the report eight males were identified as possible victims of sexual abuse by Charles David Pugh."
An investigator said he spoke to at least three of the alleged victims "and could have developed probable cause warranting criminal charges or grand jury presentment, but the statute of limitations had expired."