Seven indicted in Fort Valley State prostitution case

FORT VALLEY, Ga. — Seven people have been indicted in a prostitution and pimping case tied to Fort Valley State University. Most of them are community leaders and have ties to the South Georgia university, including an alleged prostitute in the case.

The indictments mark the latest development in a criminal investigation Channel 2 Action News broke last April when Channel 2 investigative reporter Nicole Carr discovered the university president's former executive assistant and campus Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. advisor was at the center of the probe.

[READ MORE: Woman at center of sorority sex scandal 'not a pimp,' attorney says]

A Peach County grand jury indicted the seven earlier this week, according the Macon Judicial Circuit district attorney.

They include 47-year old Ernest Harvey, who was a middle school assistant principal from Kathleen. Hinesville City Manager Kenneth Howard, 57, resides in Riceboro.

Ryan Jenkins is a 32-year-old Albany resident. Charles Jones is the university’s former chief legal counsel who was fired shortly before charges were filed last year.

Devontae Little is a 26-year-old Warner Robins resident and former state youth facility worker charged in a separate child rape case.

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Finally, 46-year-old Arthur Nance is a Cordele-area commissioner, funeral home director and pastor.

The men have each been charged with one count of solicitation of sodomy and two counts of pandering from incidents alleged to have happened between April 2017 and 2018.

[READ MORE: Child rape suspect among 7 charged in Fort Valley State sex scandal]

Johnson is accused of providing sexual services for the men in exchange for money or providing someone else to the men during the same time period. She’s charged with six counts of prostitution, three counts of pimping and two counts of solicitation of sodomy.

One alleged prostitute is named in the indictment.

Late last year, an open records request for her personnel files was denied by the university. She appears to have worked in a campus office, and through other campus publications, it appears she was also a student there in recent years.

Channel 2 Action News is not naming her because she has not been charged in the case. While that young woman is identified in the indictment, other charges indicate a separate prostitute or prostitutes are tied to the case. That prostitute(s) is not named in the indictment and the connection to the university, if any, is unknown.

The university has routinely issued statements affirming its cooperation with authorities.

On Friday, Carr reached Johnson’s Atlanta-based attorney, Adrian Patrick. In his last interview, Patrick suggested an alleged prostitute in the case could have orchestrated the sex ring.

[READ MORE: Attorney for woman charged in Fort Valley State sex scandal: 'Who was the madam?']

On Friday, he said he was still reviewing the indictment.

“We are legally ready for battle,” Patrick said.

Cox Media Group