By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

A Montevallo man is being held in the Shelby County Jail on bonds totaling $70,000 after police said he allegedly sexually abused a female family member who was younger than 12 years old.

The Pelham Police Department arrested 27-year-old Paul Edward Walker on Aug. 12 and charged him with one count of first-degree rape and one count of sexual abuse of a child younger than 12.

The arrest came after a several-week investigation, Pelham Police Department Capt. Larry Palmer said.

“We just got warrants on him on Friday,” Palmer said on Aug. 15.

Palmer said the sexual abuse charges were tied to a single event involving one of Walker’s juvenile family members. Palmer said the incident happened while Walker and the victim were living in the same residence in Pelham.

Because the victim was a juvenile, police are not releasing her identity.