Three People in Beaufort Co. Face Charges for Hidden Escapee
Whoa! Beaufort County’s got some real-life drama happening right now. It turns out that three folks over there might have been playing hide and seek with the law. They’re now facing charges for allegedly helping out an escaped convict.
Unraveling the Story
These aren’t your average Joes. They are Kalynn Jade Cloud, 20, Amani Nekwan Vaughn, 30, and Guy Frank Talley III, 27. They are all in hot water for supposedly harboring Jaquan Duvall Barnes. Barnes is a 29-year-old Port Royal resident who was able to break out of detention in Jasper County back in June. He dodged the law for nearly a month before they finally caught up to him in Jacksonville.
The charges against our three suspects claim that Mr. Barnes was cooling his heels in a local jail waiting for a trial when he somehow managed to vamoose. It’s said that he used some tools and a pre-planned escape plan to get out, which is supposedly something Cloud, Vaughn and Talley helped him with. Yikes!
Who’s This Escaped Convict Anyway?
So, let’s talk about Barnes. He was initially nabbed by the Hardeeville Police Department back on March 5 after they got a tip-off that he was in the area and had some serious charges related to sex trafficking hanging over him in Georgia. Long story short, he made a run for it but got caught. He was traveling with a young miss who had been reported as missing by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Barnes got booked into the Jasper County Detention Center but managed to scarper on June 10. The law caught up with him on July 7 and hit him with new charges in Beaufort County. These include human trafficking of a minor, a couple of counts of both second and third degree sexual exploitation of a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and unlawful escape.
It Gets Worse
This story just keeps getting darker. The offenses allegedly carried out by Barnes were said to have gone down between Feb. 9 and March 5. The charges claim Barnes was providing housing and transport for a young lady he knew was being looked for by law enforcement. It went further down the rabbit hole with accusations that he had and shared sexually explicit images of the youngster, gave her drugs and promoted the sex trafficking of the minor. It’s thought that all this dodgy business went on in Barnes’ Beaufort County residence.
Talley had been taken into custody in June along with Algerian Bryan, 63, a resident of St. Helena Island and William James Youmans, 34, also from Beaufort. As with Barnes, they too were facing charges related to trafficking a victim under 18 years old. Bryan and Youmans were also thrown an extra alleged offense for influencing, cajoling or driving a minor to step over the line. This is known as contributing to the delinquency of a minor. As if things weren’t bad enough, Talley also got hit with the charges of second and third degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
The authorities say that Bryan and Youmans were providing shelter and drugs to a minor while promoting her involvement in sex trafficking. It’s believed that all of the guys arrested used coercion or facilitated sexual acts for money. As of now, they are all kept at the Beaufort County Detention Center, according to county records.
Finally
While we wait to see how this real-life drama unfolds, it’s a stark reminder that dark stuff can happen even in our own backyards. For now, these folks are considered innocent until proven guilty. But here’s hoping justice will indeed be served. Stay aware, Beaufort County!
