Jasper Co. sex trafficking suspect escapes from jail; police searching Monday afternoon
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Jasper County authorities are on the lookout for a Port Royal man who has escaped the county jail, the sheriff’s office said in an alert to the public posted Monday afternoon.
The escapee was named as Jaquan Duvall Barnes, a 5-foot-2, 28-year-old Black male with brown hair and brown eyes. He weighs 150 pounds and has a home address listed as 1793 Old Shell Road in Port Royal, the agency’s flyer says.
Barnes was arrested for sex trafficking of a minor after Hardeeville police pulled over his vehicle on March 5. Inside the car, officers found an underage girl who was “acquainted with the suspect” and had been reported missing from Beaufort County.
That incident was far from Barnes’ first sex crime charge: In 2015, he pleaded guilty in Beaufort County court to two counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, an offense for the possession of child sexual abuse material or child pornography.
Arthur S. Benjamin, director of the Jasper County Detention Center, said the S.C. Law Enforcement Division is assisting in the search and investigating how the escape happened. He declined to answer additional questions, including whether Barnes is considered dangerous to the public.
The Jasper County Detention Center is located at 12008 North Jacob Smart Blvd in Ridgeland, part of the same building as the county’s law enforcement center.
Anyone with information on Barnes’ whereabouts is encouraged to call 911 or Jasper County’s non-emergency dispatch line at 843-726-7519.
This story was originally published June 10, 2024 at 4:02 PM.
