A former McDowell High School guidance counselor who is charged with committing sex acts at the school is facing new charges and is now under a $1 million bond.

In early 2024, Jessica Patrick Finley, then 29, of Marion, was arrested on charges of felony sex act with a student and felony statutory sex offense with a child under the age of 15 after an investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation into her having an inappropriate relationship with a minor student at the school, according to a previous McDowell News article.

Finley has been held under a $600,000 bond at Yancey County Detention Center after being transferred to the facility from the McDowell County jail in March.

On Monday, Sept. 22, Finley was indicted on new charges. The new charges include six counts o

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