Former youth minister charged with sex crimes

Shawn Waddell was booked into the Houston County Detention Center August 14, and has been accused of four counts of eavesdropping, surveillance of communications and three counts of sexual exploitation of children, according to jail records.

Lt. Darin Meadows with the Houston County Sheriff’s Office’s Juvenile Division shared that a report had been made in reference to Waddell allegedly recording an underage female, and that during the course of the investigation into the matter, it was found that there were three victims in total, two being female juveniles and one being an adult. Meadows noted that his understanding was that Waddell had been a part-time youth minister and though the incidents were not believed to have taken place at the church, they were linked to church related events.

Jail records read that Waddell was released on bond, in the amount of $2,500 for each of the seven charges, the same day as his arrest.

HHJ News