Former Vanderbilt football player and police officer sentenced to 26 years in prison
Former police officer and Vanderbilt football player Cassen Jackson-Garrison will spend the next 26 years in prison following his January conviction of statutory rape. He was sentenced April 12 and does not have the possibility of parole.
Jackson-Garrison was found guilty in Knox County court of grooming and having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 2021, according to Assistant District Attorney Sean McDermott. The convictions on nine of 10 counts included charges of solicitation of a minor, rape and statutory rape, among others.
Before he was a police officer in Oak Ridge, Jackson-Garrison served as a probationary officer at the Knoxville Police Department, according to Knox News’ archives, but left the day after he was accused of exposing himself.
Jackson-Garrison played football at Central High School in Knoxville and Vanderbilt University.
In a separate case in 2016, Jackson-Garrison was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old girl while he was on patrol duty in Oak Ridge. He plead guilty to statutory rape and official misconduct charges in 2017 and received supervised probation. His charges were dismissed after completing the two years of probation.
Tyler Whetstone is an investigative reporter focused on accountability journalism. Connect with Tyler by emailing him at tyler.whetstone@knoxnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tyler_whetstone.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Former Vanderbilt football player, police officer sentenced to 26 years
