A Knoxville man has been arrested for felony sexual abuse.

According to court records, on August 5th, 2025, a report of a sexual assault was taken by the Knoxville Police Department from a victim who stated her boyfriend, 21-year-old Jaxson Willis of Knoxville, allegedly sexually assaulted her when she was incapacitated at his residence in March of 2025. The victim stated that she found a video of the assault on the defendant’s phone. The criminal complaint noted that the victim was incapacitated due to a medication use order by her doctor and that she had no recollection of the assault and deleted the video out of fear of its release.

The victim provided investigators with several text messages where the defendant admitted to sexually assaulting her. The defendant allegedly made multiple admissions to sexually assaulting the victim without her consent and that she was incapacitated at the time of the assault. During the investigation, Willis was advised multiple times by the investigating officer and his attorney to not have contact with the victim, in which Willis allegedly contacted the victim trying to convince her to not proceed with the investigation and make her feel guilty for filing the report. 

Willis is charged with Third Degree Sexual Abuse, a Class C Felony, and Tempering with a Witness, an aggravated misdemeanor.