SPANISH FORT, Ala. A Homeland Security Investigations special agent who investigated child exploitation cases and trained Baldwin County teachers on how to spot online predators has been charged with rape, sodomy, sexual abuse, and incest involving an underage girl. Kent Blacklidge, 43, of Spanish Fort, turned himself in Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Baldwin County Jail after a grand jury indictment. Spanish Fort Police led the months-long investigation, which began Jan. 11 after the department received a child sexual abuse report involving a juvenile female.
Police Chief John Barber said investigators quickly identified Blacklidge as the alleged perpetrator. The charges listed by police are first-degree rape, second-degree rape, first-degree sodomy, second-degree sodomy, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, two counts of second-degree sexual abuse, and incest. That is nine felony counts. Authorities have not released the alleged victim’s exact age or a detailed account of what they say occurred.
Barber said those details were withheld to protect her. He praised her for reporting the abuse and said it takes unusual courage to come forward in cases like this. The allegations remain unproven. Blacklidge has not been convicted and is presumed innocent.
His attorney, Patrick Pendergast, said he is not impressed by press conferences and looks forward to their day in court to prove his innocence. What has drawn attention beyond the charges is Blacklidge’s job. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the agent’s work at HSI included child exploitation investigations and public awareness. Marshall said Blacklidge worked with local law enforcement and community members on those cases.
“That’s why it is so profoundly disappointing and frankly disgusting to stand here today and tell you that we’ve now charged him,” Marshall said at a Sept. 8 news conference with Barber and Spanish Fort Mayor Brad Bass. Marshall also said Blacklidge’s HSI duties included “trying to provide justice in cases involving kids.” That professional record is documented independently of the criminal case.
In August 2025, WKRG reported on a training session in Robertsdale where Blacklidge, identified as an HSI special agent and instructor, taught Baldwin County teachers how child predators operate online. “I work these cases more often than not,” he said in that report. He told teachers that contact often starts with a photo on a phone, a social media chat, or an online game, and that requests for videos, pictures, or an in-person meeting should be treated as red flags.
“The sooner you get law enforcement involved, the more likely it is there is a positive outcome,” he said. That article, including his quotes and a photograph from the session, remained publicly available after his arrest. At Tuesday’s news conference, an attendee reminded Marshall that local coverage had previously featured Blacklidge training public school teachers on detecting online predators.
WEAR also reported that Blacklidge taught classes to first responders and teachers on warning signs of human trafficking and that he was recognized last year at a Baldwin County Commission meeting as part of a group that helped reunite a kidnapped child. That recognition has not been independently confirmed through commission records reviewed for this report. Spanish Fort Police said HSI placed Blacklidge on administrative leave at the start of the investigation. Later local accounts said he had been on leave since January.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees HSI, did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the charges became public. No separate written statement from ICE or HSI was located. The Baldwin County District Attorney’s Office recused itself. Marshall said Blacklidge is a witness in some cases handled by that office, creating a conflict.
The attorney general’s staff is prosecuting. Marshall said the recusal was not a reflection on the local office’s willingness to bring the case. Barber said the badge did not change how the investigation was handled. “Without fear or favor, our responsibility in law enforcement is to pursue justice and protect victims of crime, regardless if the perpetrator wears a badge or not,” he said when the arrest was announced.
At the later briefing he said officers conducted interviews, collected evidence, and treated the case as they would any other child sexual abuse investigation. He also said there is no indication of additional victims and that, with the investigation complete, the focus should be support for the alleged victim. Police have not publicly identified where they say the abuse occurred, other than that it was within Spanish Fort. A judge set total bond at $560,000.
Blacklidge posted it on Sept. 8 and was released from the Baldwin County Jail. Marshall said bond had been structured around the felony classes: $100,000 for each Class A count, $50,000 for each Class B count, and $20,000 for each Class C count. Conditions of release include electronic monitoring, home confinement, no contact with the alleged victim, and no contact with anyone under 18. If convicted, the most serious counts carry severe penalties under Alabama law.
First-degree rape and first-degree sodomy are Class A felonies, punishable by 10 years to 99 years or life in prison. Incest is a Class C felony in ordinary cases, but a Class A felony if the victim is under 17. Second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy are generally Class B felonies. First-degree sexual abuse is a Class C felony.
No charging affidavit with a full factual narrative has been released publicly, and no trial date has been announced. Barber and Marshall both said the charges should not be treated as a verdict on all of law enforcement. The case now sits in the attorney general’s office, with Blacklidge free on bond and the allegations still to be tested in court.
