ATLANTA — A former magician and one-time church youth counselor was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to stalking young boys in public restrooms at metro Atlanta department stores and secretly taping them.
Jeffrey Alan Wasley, a 39-year-old Kennesaw man once known by the stage name "Magic Jeff," was sentenced in a brief court hearing Wednesday morning. He was also sentenced to a lifetime in supervised release.
Prosecutors say Wasley would target children as young as 4 in stores such as Target and Walmart by waiting for them to enter a restroom without an adult. He would often offer to help them and then videotape them when they used the bathroom, according to the indictment.
There was no evidence of any other contact with the minors, prosecutors said.
Authorities were tipped off to Wasley in July 2008 after two brothers aged 5 and 7 reported his activity in a Target to their mother, who notified store security. The officers identified Wasley from surveillance cameras and days later followed him to his car and noted the tag number.
Cobb County authorities then got a warrant, searched his home and found at least six videos he had produced of boys in public restrooms, prosecutors said. They also found thousands of other child pornography images that he had downloaded from the Internet.
When federal agents tried to arrest Wasley in December 2008, he barricaded himself in his garage and sought to kill himself by slashing his throat and wrists. Emergency responders were able to save Wasley's life, and he pleaded guilty in March after his lawyer decided against claiming Wasley was mentally ill.
Wasley claimed he performed as "Magic Jeff" at Six Flags, Cub Scout troops, Home Depot and a long list of local schools.
At the time of his arrest Wasley worked at Calvary Jesus Church as the director of children's ministries, according to the arrest report.