Jackson County Sheriff’s Office investigators and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation have completed an in depth investigation of an incident regarding an alleged sexual assault of a juvenile.
The mother reported that several teenage boys drove the juvenile victim to a residence within Jackson County where the alleged crimes occurred.
During the course of the investigation, a forensic interview and evaluation was conducted with the victim. Investigators conducted a search warrant at the alleged location, with the assistance of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and Jackson County Investigators located and recovered several pieces of evidence corroborating the victim’s statement.
Joshua Lee Saucier, 17, was arrested and charged with child molestation, aggravated child molestation and cruelty to children in the first degree.
Nicholas Wayne Joiner, 18, was arrested and charged with enticing a child for indecent purposes, child molestation and cruelty to children in the first degree.
Montel Eugene Reynolds, 18, was arrested and charged with enticing a child for indecent purposes, party to the crime of child molestation and cruelty to children in the first degree.
Two additional males, who were juveniles at the time of incident, were arrested and charged with enticing a child for indecent purposes, child molestation, aggravated child molestation, aggravated sexual battery and cruelty to children in the first degree. A third male, who was a juvenile at the time of the incident, faces charges of enticing a child for indecent purposes, child molestation, aggravated child molestation and cruelty to children in the first degree.
I happen to know all but two of the young men involved in the case. They were frequent guests at my home and I can tell you they're not "bad" kids. They are, however, subject to frequent bad judgment as all teenagers are. I DO NOT CONDONE WHAT HAS HAPPENED AND THESE BOYS WILL NEED TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS AND LEARN VALUABLE LESSONS FOR THEIR REST OF THEIR LIVES. Nonetheless, we all bear some responsibility because as a society we have embraced the over-sexualization of our children. Each of these boys and the young lady involved received sex education in our schools starting as early as the third/fourth grade. Our schools taught them the basics of what sex is and the consciences of STDs and pregnancy but foolishly failed to teach them about the legal consequences underage sex. They've been inundated with the glorification of sex and near or complete pornographic scenes on TV, in movies and the internet. They're peers likewise have done the same because they too live in an over-sexualized society. So we have an entire society of young boys/girls who have been led to believe that sex among teens is not only morally okay but acceptable under the law- because they've never been taught any better. I can tell that a number of these boys themselves of been molested as defined by the law. Several of them had sex at the ages of 12-13 with girls of the same age or older. But no one seems bothers to consider how this impacted their understanding of underage sexual activity. Sure we can cast the blame on their parents. I know most of them too and yes they have their own faults. We all do. Yet, again as society we are not without blame. East Jackson is riddled with drugs. Active drug dealing is rampant all over Nicholson and Jackson County. We all know where the drug dealers live and work and yet everyone turns a blind eye. Hell most of you visit the one on the hill right across from my house- yes I know who you are and yes I've reported your activity to law enforcement for years. Yet they keep selling and you keep coming back to get your fix and everyone else just pretends like it’s not happening. Maybe if we clean up our community and re-instill basic moral values taught by our grandparents/great-grandparents(pre-baby boomer generations) our kids will have parents who will be parents rather than friends and kids will be kids and young boys will learn to be good men. It starts at home. Be good parents to your own kids. Mentor to those who don't have good parents and too kid's friends and all the neighborhood kids. Don't take it for granted that it’s someone else's job/responsibility to teach kids right from wrong. Maybe then we won't see tragedies like this happen and the legal system (and those seeking to make a name for themselves) won't have an excuse to make examples out of kids who make terrible decisions because they didn't have someone teach them to behave any better. A little common sense in how we deal with our children can go a long way in helping us teach them to be good people and citizens.