A seven-year local law enforcement officer until last month was jailed Wednesday, charged after a grand jury indictment on one count of sexual battery and one count of incest.

London Williams Jr., 40, 4425 Nailor Road, waived arraignment this morning before Circuit Judge M. James Chaney. Williams was released from the jail later this morning on a $25,000 bond.

Williams had not been arrested during investigation of the accusations and was booked only after indictment by the grand jury, which is meeting this week.

The complaint against Williams was made May 6, said Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace. The case was investigated by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the detective arm of the state police.

“We were notified that the investigation was ongoing,” said District Attorney Ricky Smith after this morning’s hearing. “MBI provided us with a completed case file, and based on that information we decided to present the case to the grand jury, which resulted in the indictment.”

Williams had last worked for the Warren County Sheriff’s Department April 6 when he was injured in a wreck at Clay and North Frontage roads and placed on medical leave, Pace said.

The complaint that led to Wednesday’s arrest initially was made to the Vicksburg Police Department, the sheriff said. “The incident that was reported involved an adult victim,” he added.

The case was turned over to the sheriff’s department when it was found that the alleged incident took place in the county.

“As soon as we found that the person accused was an employee, I immediately notified the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations, who dispatched agents to Vicksburg that day,” said the sheriff.

Pace also launched an internal investigation. “I can’t go into specific personnel issues, but he has not been employed by this department since June,” the sheriff said. He would not say if Williams quit or was fired.

During his law enforcement career, Williams had been both a deputy and Vicksburg police officer. He was sworn in to the VPD in August 2003 and served for about a year or a year and a half, said Lt. Bobby Stewart.

He then moved to the sheriff’s department, but returned to the VPD in February 2007, staying for about 10 months. During that time he ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Issaquena County.

He returned to the Warren County Sheriff’s Department in January 2008, two months after his unsuccessful campaign, and was named an investigator with the department.

At VPD, Williams was a patrolman, Stewart said, and a reliable employee. “His work ethics were good,” the lieutenant said. “He seemed like a good person of sound moral character. I don’t anything about the incident that was alleged to have occurred.”

Williams’ wife was among several people attending the hearing this morning.

He is represented by Jackson attorney Michael Marks, who was not in the courtroom. Smith said that Marks had been retained by Williams some time ago, indicating he knew the investigation was under way.