7 charged in Fort Valley State 'pimping investigation'

FORT VALLEY, Ga. — Prosecutors have issued seven arrest warrants in the Fort Valley State University "pimping investigation."

Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Nicole Carr has learned warrants were issued Tuesday for 47-year-old Ernest Harvey, 56-year-old Kenneth Howard, 35-year-old Ryan Jenkins, 57-year-old Charles Jones, 26-year-old Devontae Little and 46-year-old Arthur James Nance Jr.

Each are charged with pandering and solicitation of sodomy stemming from conduct alleged to have occurred in 2017 and 2018.

Jones was chief legal counsel for the university. Carr confirmed he was terminated months ago.

Former Fort Valley State University executive assistant to the president Alecia Jeanetta Johnson, 48, is charged with six counts of pimping on allegations she arranged to provide a prostitute to the six men.

Johnson also is charged with six counts of prostitution on allegations she performed, offered or consented to perform a sexual act for money or other items of value, prosecutors said.

“She not a pimp, She’s not a madam,” Johnson’s attorney Adrian Patrick said. "They’ve been given the opportunity to turn themselves into law enforcement."

Johnson is also charged with conspiracy to commit fiduciary theft stemming from allegations she conspired to take scholarship money, a book scholarship, that had been granted to a student in October 2015, prosecutors said.

The charges were announced by a district attorney in Macon Friday.

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RESPONSE

Fort Valley State University sent Channel 2 Action News the following statement:

Today we learned that two former FVSU employees have been charged with illicit conduct. We appreciate the work of the GBI in conducting this investigation, which began in April 2018 when administrators received two separate reports alleging wrongdoing. The University System of Georgia (USG) in conjunction with FVSU began an immediate investigation in accordance with its policies. The USG notified Georgia’s Office of the Attorney General, and the case was ultimately referred to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
 
FVSU has promised its students that their safety and security is our first priority, and we fully support the application of the judicial process. We have consistently and aggressively worked with the University System of Georgia and law enforcement to ensure that anyone who allegedly puts our students at risk is investigated thoroughly and expeditiously, and have advocated for the most appropriate standards to be applied. While we cannot comment on the details of an ongoing investigation, we expect anyone who has compromised the trust of our students to be held accountable with all deliberate speed.

BACKGROUND

Channel 2 Action News has been keeping you updated on this investigation at Fort Valley State University for months.

It all stems from accusations that the former executive assistant to the school's president pimped out sorority hopefuls in exchange for money.

The attorney for Johnson, the ex-administrator at the center of a university sexual misconduct investigation and a state criminal investigation, told Channel 2 Action News that his client was not a pimp, confirming the nature of the allegations lodged against the former sorority advisor.

In an interview with Carr in May, Adrian Patrick said he began representing Johnson earlier this month, shortly after her resignation from Fort Valley State University.

That’s where Johnson served as the longtime executive assistant to the university’s president.

"She's not a pimp, and she's not a madam -- none of that," Patrick said on Monday. "She's not guilty. She did not do anything."

The Snellville attorney heard about Johnson's case through mutual acquaintances in their hometown.

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