Video summary
A Pike County man named Joshua Charles has been arrested and is facing serious charges following an indictment for child rape, sodomy, and sexual abuse. The 39-year-old resident of Greasy Creek was accused of subjecting a child under the age of 12 to sexual contact between September 2020 and September 2021. He is currently being held in the Pike County Jail on a $500,000 cash bond while awaiting trial. The rape and sodomy charges carry potential sentences ranging from twenty years to life in prison, whereas the charge of sexual abuse could result in a sentence between five and ten years.
In local government news, the Pike County Board of Education voted to keep property tax rates unchanged rather than increasing them to offset state funding losses mandated by House Bill 757. Although this decision results in an annual net loss of approximately $322,000 that the district will never recoup, Superintendent Freddy Bowling stated that the board prioritizes avoiding additional burdens on taxpayers and the community. To manage the resulting budget shortfall, the administration plans to operate more efficiently while maintaining high standards for student education and staff welfare. Despite the financial constraints, the district recently provided a 2% raise to all employees and continues to maintain school buildings that are considered top-tier within Kentucky.
The broadcast also covered preparations for the upcoming Pike County Bowl, an annual football event scheduled for late August at the Pikeville Overlook. Coaches from various teams gathered for a luncheon to celebrate the tradition and discuss their upcoming matchups, including a rivalry game against Prestonburg and a contest against Louisville's Christian Academy. Head coach Chris McTo highlighted the significance of the bowl game as a major experience for his players, noting strong community support and media attention that will help promote local schools. The event serves as a key early-season highlight for high school football in the region, drawing both live crowds and television viewers.
The program concluded with segments promoting local resources and services, including an advertisement for Appalachian Wireless offering back-to-school deals on smartphones and tablets for students and teachers. Additionally, the show featured a brief promotion for Ned Pillarsdorf, a pro bono attorney who advocates for vulnerable individuals in courtrooms and classrooms. These segments rounded out the edition of Mountaintop Daily, which provided updates on critical legal issues, fiscal decisions affecting public education, local sports events, and community resources for residents ahead of the new school year.
Read the full video transcript
A Pike County man is arrested following
an indictment for child rape. And the
Pike County School Board keeps tax rates
the same. I'm Jerry Scott and this is
the Mountaintop Daily.
A Pike County man has been arrested
following his indictment on charges of
child rape, sodomy, and sexual abuse.
39-year-old Joshua Charles of Greasy
Creek was indicted last month on charges
of first-degree rape, first-degree
sodomy, and first-degree sexual abuse.
He was arrested on Monday. He is accused
of subjecting a child younger than 12 to
sexual contact from September of 2020 to
September of 2021. The rape and sodomy
charges are punishable by 20 to 50 years
or life in prison, while the sex abuse
charge carries a potential 5 to 10ear
sentence. Charles is being held in the
Pike County Jail on a $500,000 cash
bond.
The Pike County Board of Education is
tightening its belt after board members
voted today to keep property tax rates
the same rather than raising them to
collect the same amount as last year.
Nick attended today's meeting and spoke
to the superintendent afterwards.
>> On Tuesday, August 18th, the Pike County
School Board hosted a special called
meeting to vote on House Bill 757. The
bill would require the school board to
either increase their tax rate or accept
a state proposed tax rate leading to a
net loss of $322,000
annually. Superintendent Freddy Bowling
speaks on the decision made by the board
during the meeting.
>> So with the new law in effect, we have
to propose a a rate and then run it two
weeks in the newspaper and come back and
then of course ratify that vote in a
regular meeting. So that's what today's
purpose of the meeting was to set the
tax rate. Our board and I'm proud to say
has chosen not to raise taxes. We are
going to leave the tax rate the same. Um
the state actually set a compensating
rate which means we would get the equal
funding we got this past school year but
that raises the taxes by a couple cents.
Even though that's not a lot, it's still
a burden on our taxpayers and our
community.
>> Though this vote would lead to a net
loss, Bowling and the board maintain the
best interest in the students, families,
and faculty of Pike County. The board
plans to work with the budget more
efficiently to make up for the loss.
>> That is a loss of 325,000
or 322,000, not just for one year, Nick.
That is perpetual. Uh that's money that
we'll never recoup. But, you know,
through through effective budgeting,
looking at our resources and we felt
confident at this time that we can
continue to serve our kids at a high
level and take care of our our schools
and our staff as well. So, and I think
this board is committed to doing that. I
think they've proven that. You look at
this summer, we give a 2% raise to all
of our employees. Two years ago, we gave
a three and a half percent. So, we're
taking care of our staff and uh our
schools are doing a great job with the
resources that we give them. I know that
does mean that we have to find ways to
to operate uh without more revenue or
additional revenue. And that's fine. I
can tell you that our students come
first and our staff and that we will
look for ways to be very uh efficient.
Um, you know, we have to be good
stewards of taxpayer money and we do
that. And, uh, you look around our
school system, uh, Nick, we have we have
an amazing school system. Our buildings
are second to none across the state of
Kentucky. So, uh, our taxpayer money is
always put to good use, and of course,
our main thing is we take care of our
kids, educate them at a high level.
>> Reporting for Mountaintop News, I'm Nick
Colum. Coming up after the break,
coaches and media gathered at the
Pikeville Overlook for today's Pike
County Bowl lunchin. We'll take you
there when the Mountaintop Daily
continues. But first, sports and
weather. All right, today is the last
day on this set. We're going to be
trying out something new this week. Hope
to have everything finalized by the end
of the week, but uh we'll miss it.
How's it going, sports fans? It's Cody
the Professor Davis here with
Mountaintopports recap and let's just
jump into it. The big shot of the week
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Thank you Kentucky Power and Community
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>> Okay, raise your hand if you've got a
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>> High school football season is getting
ready to kick off and the Pike County
Bowl is coming up fast. Today, coaches
and the media gathered for lunchon to
get ready for the big weekend of games.
Jackson tells us all about it. On August
18th, 2026, the annual Pike County Bowl
lunchin was held at the Pikeville
Overlook. The coaches of the teams
playing, sponsors, and more were invited
to attend. The Pike County Bowl will
take place on Friday, August 28th and
Saturday, August 29th. Pikeville High
School football head coach Chris Mcto
tells us more.
>> The Pike County Bowl obviously has been
around a long time and and we always uh
enjoy playing in it. It's a great
atmosphere for our kids to be a part of.
There's always a good crowd with the
first game and then, you know, most of
them stick around for our game. So, it's
a great atmosphere for our kids to play
in this early in the year. It's a big
experience for our kids. They get uh
like we said, there's there's a lot of
media hype around it with uh of course
you all and Mountaintop and then of
course WMT Community Trust Bank. They do
a great job promoting this thing and uh
a lot of people be there to watch in
person, but we'll also have a lot of
people tuning in on WMT to watch it as
well.
>> McName and his team are excited for the
Pike County Bowl, but choose to focus on
one game at a time as they have a game
coming up on Friday, August 21st. this
year playing a really good Prestonburg
team. You know, coach Hagar's took taken
over two or three years ago and he's
done an outstanding job with that team.
Um so we're looking forward to that. We
used to play Prestonburg uh on a yearly
basis and we haven't played them in
several years. So we're looking forward
to getting that uh rivalry going back uh
and you know we'll play them here in the
Pike County Bowl and then we've signed
on to play them in 2027 and 28. So uh we
really think they'll bring a good crowd.
Uh, I think our people will come out and
it'll be a good atmosphere for not only
our our players, but also for our
community and for our fans. Well, you
know, and I know this Pike County Bowl,
we've got a game this week against
Louisville, uh, Christian Academy of
Louisville is an outstanding football
team. So, we're we're focused there
right now. Um, but then, you know,
Saturday, we'll start looking at
Prestonburg and see what we need to do
to to compete with them and and uh, you
know, take that next week to really work
on them. I I know they've got some great
athletes there. Their kids play super
hard. Haven't had a chance to watch them
this year, but we watched them last year
when we played Hazard and just played
really hard. He he has them uh really
excited about playing and and they do a
great job.
>> Reporting for Mountaintop News, I'm
Jackson Lucas.
>> That will do it for this edition of the
Mountaintop Daily. Be sure to check us
out at 6 p.m. every weekday on
Mountaintop TV, the Mountaintop TV app,
and the Mountaintop News Facebook page.
With your Mountaintop Daily, I'm Jerry
Scott for Mountaintop News.