LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — The case against James Herbert Brick, the man arrested in connection with the missing teen in Laurel County who was rescued due to popularized TikTok hand signals, moves to a grand jury.
A kidnapping charge was added and his bond was upped to $50,000.
The grand jury is supposed to be back November 19.
Last Thursday, Laurel County officials arrested James Herbert Brick, 61, of Cherokee, North Carolina, at the intersection of I-75 at KY 80 (Exit 41) after a nearby drive noticed a female passenger in Brick's vehicle using hand gestures that are known on Tik Tok as a way to represent domestic violence.
Upon investigation, the female passenger was a reported missing juvenile as of Tuesday morning from Asheville, North Carolina.
During the investigation deputies also located a phone in the accused possession that allegedly portrayed a juvenile female in a sexual manner.
"It's a really powerful story and such an important example of how a tool like this can be useful," said Suzanne Duncan.
Duncan is the vice president of philanthropy of the Canadian Women's Foundation.
The organization launched the "Signal For Help" campaign in April 2020 in anticipation of a spike in gender-based violence due to the lockdown.
Now, the group is hearing from people around the world about the hand signal.
"We've never expected a situation like this. A woman in a car. That was very clever and resourceful of her to think to use this and it's such a relief that there were other drivers who were able to recognize this and knew what to do," said Duncan.
Back in court, James Brick was charged with unlawful imprisonment – first-degree; possession of matter sex performance by a minor over the age of 12 but under age 18 – first offense.
