Two Waycross men were indicted this week by a federal grand jury on numerous counts of enticing minors to engage in sexual acts and producing child pornography.
The indictment, returned by a grand jury sitting in Savannah, alleges that from January through March Jacques Donte Taylor and Donnell Cornelius Shavers, both 22, persuaded, induced and enticed two minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child porn, said James Durham, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
“These defendants have been charged with committing heinous acts against young children,” said U.S. Attorney Edward J. Tarver in a news release. “Our children deserve protection from those who abuse and prey on them. The U. S. Attorney’s Office will continue to aggressively prosecute those who violate the innocence of our children.”
Ware County Sheriff Randy F. Royal released the following statement:
“I am proud of our investigator, Detective Hope Salinas, who began the initial investigation, which led to Mr. Taylor and Mr. Shavers’ arrests and their being charged with child molestation and other state-level felonies. I am prouder still of the level of support and the spirit of cooperation between our agency and Homeland Security Investigations, which afforded the manpower and resources needed to broaden the scope of the investigation so that all the victims in this case will get the opportunity for justice.”
The federal indictment of Taylor and Shavers arises out of a joint investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Ware County Sheriff’s Office, with additional assistance from the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant United States Attorney Daniel R. Crumby is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.