Jacques Jackson has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for raping three teenage girls he met on Instagram. The sentencing was announced by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, whose office serves as the main federal law enforcement agency in north Georgia and handles criminal prosecutions and civil cases for the United States in the region (https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga).
“Our community is safer today because law enforcement agencies from around the country collaborated to put an irrepressible sexual predator in prison for a quarter century,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “This case is an important reminder that social media is often an abuser’s preferred means to manipulate, exploit, and victimize unsuspecting children. I urge parents to monitor their kids’ online activity vigilantly.”
“Jacques Jackson’s actions were reprehensible and justice was served,” said Peter Ellis, Acting Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “This predator exploited social media to devastate vulnerable minors, and we will not tolerate such abuse. The FBI, in partnership with local law enforcement, will relentlessly pursue those who prey on our children.”
According to information presented in court, law enforcement first encountered Jackson in Decatur, Georgia, in August 2018 after DeKalb County police rescued a 15-year-old girl who had been victimized by him. Jackson confessed to meeting her on Instagram, blackmailing her into traveling out of state, physically assaulting her, destroying her phone, and having sex with her multiple times while knowing she was underage.
In October 2021, another case emerged when Elberton Police investigated a missing 15-year-old girl who had communicated with Jackson using her brother’s phone. Investigators found sexually explicit exchanges between them. After returning home, the minor reported that she met Jackson through Instagram; he sent an Uber for her and they stayed at a motel where he had sex with her several times.
The FBI continued searching for Jackson over several months before arresting him at a bus station in Big Spring, Texas, in June 2022. He was found with a gun and $3,500 cash and accompanied by another runaway child who disclosed similar experiences involving Instagram contact and sexual encounters.
Further investigation linked Jackson’s DNA to an unsolved rape case from July 2015 involving another 15-year-old girl.
On January 23, 2026, U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. sentenced Jacques Jackson—aged 30—to 25 years imprisonment followed by ten years of supervised release after his guilty plea on charges related to interstate transportation of a minor for unlawful sex acts and enticing minors into illegal sexual conduct.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from several local police departments as well as the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex R. Sistla and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Annalise K. Peters prosecuted this matter.
The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia focuses on prosecuting threats such as human trafficking and civil rights violations while serving approximately 7.5 million residents across north Georgia (https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga). It coordinates cases that may have national or international dimensions (https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga) and maintains its primary location in Atlanta (https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga).
For further information about this case or other matters handled by this office: http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga
