Jimmy Jamison appears in a mugshot; in May 2023 he was convicted on six counts related to the rape and sex trafficking of a 14-year-old girl. (Henderson County Sheriff’s Office)

A North Carolina man will almost certainly die in prison after being convicted of child sex trafficking charges in a disturbing case that spanned years and involved a second defendant related to the victim


Jimmy Jamison, 55, was found guilty on three counts of human trafficking of a child, three counts of statutory rape, and two counts of a statutory sex offense by jurors in the Tar Heel State last week, District Attorney R. Andrew Murray announced, according to various local media outlets. The defendant was then sentenced to spend at least 241 years behind bars – with a maximum sentence of 330 years.

According to records cited by Asheville-based ABC affiliate WLOS, the victim, who is not being named, moved to Rutherford County to live with her third cousin, Lee Ann Zimmerman, 55, when she was 13 years old. When the girl turned 14, Zimmerman took her cousin along for the ride when she often traveled to “various places in Henderson County to purchase illegal narcotics,” the DA’s office said.