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A Nederland man allegedly threatened to claim an individual molested him for several years when he was younger in order to get the person to drop assault charges.

The plan didn’t work, police said.

This week a Jefferson County grand jury indicted Rodger Dale Allen East, 27, for tampering with a witness, a third degree felony.

East was an inmate at the Jefferson County Jail Nov. 13 when he told officials he would like to report a sexual assault. At the time he was under investigation for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against two individuals and due to this he was being held on a parole violation, according to a probable cause affidavit.

East was interviewed Nov. 16 and reportedly told authorities a male individual sexually assaulted him for three years, and the male and his wife made up the allegations to put him in prison and protect the male individual.

The investigator was able to listen to a recorded phone call in which East told another person asking this person to tell the female he was going to make an outcry if assault charges weren’t dropped.

East remains in the county jail as of Friday.

East allegedly called another person Nov. 15 and told them of the outcry and that the male individual would be facing 99 years in prison if the charges weren’t dropped.

The next day East reportedly made another call threatening to make the outcry, saying he would recant his story if the person dropped charges against him.