By Angela Hatton
Paducah, KY – Defense attorneys in two Paducah sex cases are questioning whether Kentucky's new age of consent statute should apply to their clients. The law that took effect in July raises the age at which a person can consent to have sex from 16 to 18 when the adult is in a position of authority. In one case, former Lone Oak High School teacher Jason Neelley faces charges of having sex with a 17-year-old female student. Neelley's attorney tells the Paducah Sun his client did not teach or coach the girl. The other case involves Jeannie Vannerson, who allegedly sexually abused a 16-year-old male family friend. Vannerson's attorney says the court should not consider her client an authority figure because she was not the boy's guardian and he did not live with her. Judge Tony Kitchen has sent both cases to a McCracken County grand jury.