Jackson County Man is Arrested and Charged with Five Counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children

Police & Government

A Jackson County man has been arrested and charged with five counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children (Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material) by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit. He was taken to the Jackson County Jail.

Matthew Perry Shadburn, was arrested on Wednesday, July 13, 2022. Shadburn’s online activity went under investigation after activity stemmed from an investigation being conducted by the FBI in Boston, Massachusetts. This resulted in a search warrant at Shadburn’s residence in Jackson County and his arrest. The FBI and the GBI were assisted in this investigation by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Secret Service. 

Information regarding cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit at 404-270-8870. Tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online , or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app. 

 

GBI Investigating an Officer Involved Shooting

Press Release

11/7/2021 Update

The deceased woman has been identified as Jessica Worsham, age 43, of Hoschton, GA.

ORIGINAL NEWS RELEASE

Jackson County, GA (November 6, 2021) – The GBI is investigating an officer involved shooting that happened in Jackson County, GA.  One woman has died in the incident.  One Jackson County deputy is critically injured.  The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office asked the GBI to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting incident. 

On Friday, November 5, 2021, at around 9:20 p.m., Jackson County Sheriff‘s Office deputies responded to a 911 call from a residence located at 6416 GA Hwy 124 in Hoschton, GA.  The call was about a domestic situation where the homeowners wanted a non-resident out of the home.  When deputies arrived at that location, they made contact with a woman at the front door of the residence. The woman pulled out a firearm and pointed it towards the deputies.  The deputies gave verbal commands for the woman to drop the weapon. The woman opened fire on the deputies.  One of the deputies was hit and injured.  The other deputy returned fire, hitting the woman and killing her.  The injured deputy was taken to a local trauma center where she remains in critical condition.  

The identity of the woman who fired at the deputies is being withheld until proper notification to the next of kin.  She will be taken to the GBI crime lab in Decatur for an autopsy.

The GBI will continue to conduct an independent investigation.  Once complete, the casefile will be provided to the Piedmont Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.   

Ralston calls for GBI investigation into Fulton County elections

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Richard Barron election investigation

ATLANTA, Ga – Elected officials are taking aim and Fulton County and its elections director Richard Barron, following new details regarding the 2020 election.

Today, Speaker of the House David Ralston (R – Blue Ridge) released the letter he sent to Fulton Elections Director Richard Barron. In the letter, Ralston requests Barron ask the GBI to investigate November 2020 election. He cited the mounting allegations against Fulton County as his reasoning behind the need for an investigation.

ralston

Georgia Speaker of the House of Representatives David Ralston

“Recently, media reports have surfaced which call into question the way in which Fulton County conducted, counted and audited the November 2020 Presidential Election. These reports have been accompanied by video and other evidence which is part of on-going litigation and requires thorough examination and explanation. Given the seriousness of this situation and the possible repercussions for our state and nation, it is time we have an independent investigation – once and for all – of the way in which Fulton County conducted, counted and audited the November 2020 Presidential Election,” Ralston wrote.

 

Raffensperger calls for Barron’s firing

Throughout the week, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R-Ga) has issued several tweets, and last month, he held a press conference in front of headlines concerning Fulton’s lengthy history of election problems.

primary Raffensperger georgia lawsuits

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger

Most recently, a report of the double-counting of 200 absentee ballots came to light after the new voting law made it public.

“Fulton County’s continued failures have gone on long enough with no accountability. Rick Barron and Ralph Jones, Fulton’s registration chief, must be fired and removed from Fulton’s elections leadership immediately. Fulton’s voters and the people of Georgia deserve better,” one of Raffensperger’s tweets read.

Earlier this year, the Fulton County Elections Board voted to fire Barron, but the commissioners rejected the termination.

Another tweet stated, “Long before November, I had been working to get Fulton to clean up their decades of election mismanagement.  Restoring confidence in our elections should be a bipartisan concern. Fulton County’s poor elections management is making that impossible.”

Raffensperger’s also gone on record urging Republicans to take “the lead on election regulation reform” and that the SOS assigned monitor found “significant management issues.”

Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts (D – Fulton) described Raffensperger’s call to fire Barron and Jones as a “sell out to conspiracy theorists.”

“His ultimate goal is based on the provisions of Senate Bill 202, he would like to take over the elections in Fulton County, that is not going to happen, period,” Pitts told Fox 5 Atlanta.

Under the Election Integrity Act (SB 202), the Secretary of State’s Office does have the authority to take over a county’s elections process if numerous instances of problems are documented. The Department of Justice is currently suing Georgia over the bill on the grounds that it violates voter’s civil rights.

Read the entirety of Ralston’s call for an election investigation below:

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