DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — An Atlanta man was sentenced to decades in federal prison last week, for raping three teenage girls he met through social media.
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Jacques Jackson, 30, pleaded guilty on May 8, 2025, to charges related to the sexual exploitation of minors. A judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison on Jan. 23.
U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg emphasized the importance of law enforcement collaboration in the case, stating, “Our community is safer today because law enforcement agencies from around the country collaborated to put an irrepressible sexual predator in prison for a quarter century.”
According to court documents, law enforcement first encountered Jackson in August 2018 in Decatur, after officers rescued a 15-year-old girl who was reportedly being abused. The minor managed to get the attention of a police officer while at a grocery store, leading to Jackson’s arrest. He confessed to meeting the girl on Instagram, knowing her age, blackmailing her to meet him out of state and sexually assaulting her multiple times.
Although arrested, Jackson was released on bond about six months later.
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On Oct. 1, 2021, Elberton police reported a missing 15-year-old girl. Investigators learned she had communicated with Jackson using her younger brother’s phone and after her return, she explained that Jackson had sent an Uber for her, resulting in them staying at a motel where Jackson had sex with her multiple times, fully aware she was a minor.
The FBI spent months attempting to locate Jackson, who was finally arrested on June 8, 2022, in Big Spring, Texas, while he was traveling on a Greyhound bus. He was accompanied by a runaway child who also disclosed having met Jackson on Instagram and engaging in sexual acts with him. At the time of his arrest, Jackson had a gun and $3,500 in cash.
Investigators further connected Jackson to a 2015 case involving the rape of another 15-year-old girl in Atlanta through DNA evidence. Samples collected from the victim matched those of Jackson’s DNA obtained during his 2018 arrest.
Peter Ellis, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Atlanta, noted, “Jackson’s actions were reprehensible and justice was served. This predator exploited social media to devastate vulnerable minors and we will not tolerate such abuse.”
After serving his prison sentence, Jackson will be under 10 years of supervised release. He has remained in custody since his arrest in June 2022.
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