© Jackson County Sheriff's Office
According to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, they were first tipped off about 65-year-old Ernest Shaw after he gave someone in Nicholson, Georgia a DVD player as a gift.
Once that unidentified person clicked through the multimedia files stored into the DVD player, they would discover perverse images and videos depicting minor children engaged in forced sexual acts with adults.
This led to that individual contacting the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, who later obtained a search warrant for Shaw's residence at 301 J.S. Williamson Court in Nicholson, Georgia.
Inside the home authorities discovered several other videos and images depicting the forced sexual assault of countless children, at which time he was taken into custody for further interrogation.
Jackson County Sheriff's Deputies would learn during those interrogation sessions that Shaw was not only a pedophile, but was a substitute school teacher in both the Banks and Jackson County School system.
He was then formally charged sigh sixty-six counts of child sexual exploitation.
"We have not determined any local children are involved," Jackson County sheriff Janis Mangum said.
"Mr. Shaw was immediately removed from our list of approved subs May 1, as soon as we were notified that the sheriff's office had opened an investigation," April Howard, Jackson County Superintendent, said on Thursday. "We had not received any complaints about his conduct with our students in the 19 years he worked in our school system."
Law enforcement remain uncertain as to if Shaw has abused any students during his tenure as a teacher, but there are no formal complaints on record.
Banks County Public Schools said that Shaw has also been on their list of substitute teachers since 2011, and there are again no complains on record in any of their schools against the pedophile teacher.
Jackson County School System Communications Coordinator Karen Bridgeman said that Shaw typically substituted at middle and high schools.
"The 49 days he worked in the 2017-18 school year were at Jackson County and East Jackson comprehensive high schools, and East Jackson Middle School; he also filled in at Maysville Elementary School last fall," Bridgeman said.
"The safety of our children is our first and most important priority, and we will continue to do everything in our power to protect them," she said Thursday.
Shaw passed background checks every five years since 1999, and neither district has been given any reason to suspect this type of behavior, according to both school systems.
Jackson County Sheriff's Deputies said that Shaw will remain in detention until trial.
If you or anyone you know has any additional information on Ernest Shaw you're urged to contact the Jackson County Sheriff's Office at (706) 367-6000.
Additional Sources or Relevant Information:
fox5atlanta.com/news/former-substitute-teacher-arrested-on-child-porn-charges
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