By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – A 20-year-old Alabaster man is facing felony counts of rape and sodomy tied to a 2014 incident in the city, according to the Alabaster Police Department.

Alabaster police arrested Matthew Scott Cofield, who lists an address on Eagle Rock Drive in Alabaster, on Sept. 18 and charged him with felony counts of second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy.

Both charges are Class B felonies, according to Alabama law, and are punishable by up to 20 years in prison upon conviction.

According to his arrest warrants, Cofield’s charges stemmed from a June 2014 incident during which he allegedly did “engage in sexual intercourse with … a member of the opposite sex, who was less than 16 years of age and more than 12 years of age,” at a time when he was older than 16 and at least two years older than the victim.

According to Alabama law, second-degree sodomy occurs when a person “being 16 years or older, engages in deviate sexual intercourse with another person less than 16 and more than 12 years old.”

He has already had his initial appearance in Shelby County District Court. As of Sept. 20, he did not yet have a future court date listed.

Cofield is being held in the Shelby County Jail on bonds totaling $30,000.