NEW: Man suspected of raping and killing 89-year-old Carter County woman indicted on 177 sexual exploitation charges

A Carter County, Tennessee inmate awaiting a trial on a murder charge was served with hundreds of new charges Friday morning.

Chad Anthony Benfield, 47, was indicted by a grand jury on one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and 177 counts of attempted sexual exploitation, according to a report from the TBI.

Benfield is also accused in the July 2017 rape and murder of his 89-year-old neighbor Mary Nolen in her Stoney Creek home.

Elizabethton Man Indicted in Child Pornography Investigation https://t.co/NvjO2H86AI

— Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (@TBInvestigation) November 13, 2020

The TBI report said an examination of Benfield’s cell phone last year requested by District Attorney Ken Baldwin showed Benfield searched for and downloaded hundreds of explicit images.

A spokesperson for Carter County Criminal Court said Benfield is not expected in court until after the first of the year.

(MUGSHOT: TBI / CCSO TN)