SLED takes over search for convicted sex offender who escaped from Jasper County jail
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is continuing its search for Jaquan Duvall Barnes, a convicted violent sex offender who escaped from the Jasper County Detention Center and remains at large. He had been in custody at that county jail since his arrest for another sex crime in early March.
Barnes is 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, according to a flyer provided by Jasper County investigators. His profile in the state sex offender registry says Barnes also goes by “Quay” or “X” and has a chest tattoo reading “SONJA.”
It was unclear when and how Barnes escaped the jail, which is located at 12008 North Jacob Smart Blvd in Ridgeland, part of the same building as the county’s law enforcement center. The facility employs 32 detention officers and a handful of administrative staff, its website says.
Constructed in 2004, the 32,000-square-foot detention center has about 184 beds throughout its six housing units and six holding cells, according to rosters sent by personnel in mid-May. Typically, the jail houses between 50 and 100 inmates on any given day.
Chief Jeff Crosby, a spokesperson for the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, said on Tuesday afternoon that deputies were no longer actively searching for the fugitive as SLED took full control of the manhunt. Representatives from SLED and the Jasper County Detention Center could not be reached via phone on Tuesday.
Barnes was arrested March 5 for sex trafficking of a minor after he ran from Hardeeville police during a traffic stop. 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, more commonly known as child pornography.
For years, the Jasper County Detention Center has struggled with understaffing and noncompliance with state regulations. A County Council agenda item from March 2024 lists a number of violations discovered during a routine inspection by the South Carolina Department of Corrections: inmate overcrowding, “inadequate” staff coverage at posts throughout the building, insufficient staff training, “inoperable” intercom stations with missing parts and exposed wires, unclean facilities and a lack of space needed to properly separate portions of the female inmate population. Inspectors also noted the jail had been keeping inmates in a “multipurpose room” that was not approved for inmate housing.
Responding to the SCDC report, Detention Center Director Arthur S. Benjamin and other jail staff said a number of the issues had been solved or improved, but conceded that many of the largest violations were due to a lack of available space in the current floor plan. Recent capital improvement plans show the county plans to spend about $30 million in additions and renovations to the building, which would relocate existing sheriff’s office facilities to a separate location.
Benjamin said on Monday that SLED would investigate the circumstances of Barnes’ escape. The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office was not assisting in the search for the inmate as of Tuesday morning but remained in contact with Jasper County agencies in case help was needed, according to department spokesperson Master Sgt. Danny Allen.
Escapee has history of sex crimes, gun violence
In Fulton County, GA, Barnes had previously been charged with pimping a minor and trafficking a person for sexual servitude. Both counts stem from a May 2018 incident in Sandy Springs, a city north of Atlanta: While “conducting surveillance” for a prostitution investigation in the area, police reportedly saw Barnes bring an underage female into a Marriott Hotel.
As officers approached Barnes outside the hotel, he attempted to drive away, crashing into two patrol cars in the process. Two policemen opened fire, with one round striking Barnes in the hand. He faced a flurry of felonies after being released from the hospital — but he failed to appear at a court proceeding in September, leaving the charges pending in Fulton County court.
Barnes also reportedly shot a man twice in Conway, S.C. during a January 2018 drug deal, while he was already wanted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for aggravated assault charges. While his charges of attempted murder and illegal weapons possession were dropped, he pleaded guilty in 2019 to armed robbery and received a prison sentence of about three years.
Judicial records from 2013 to 2015 show Barnes has nearly a dozen additional convictions in Beaufort County, primarily for theft: two counts of felony larceny, five counts of larceny from a vehicle, one for tampering with a vehicle, possession of cocaine and two burglaries, one violent and one non-violent.
A spokesperson for the Bluffton Police Department said the agency had three active warrants for Barnes related to fraudulent checks. He had not been extradited to Beaufort County following his arrest in March.
This story was originally published June 11, 2024 at 5:01 PM.
