Jared James Dabbs, Child Exploitation, Tennessee 2024

A disturbing case of child exploitation has led to a 40-year prison sentence for Jared James Dabbs, a 41-year-old man from Fayetteville, Arkansas.

On March 8, 2022, Dabbs pawned his laptop at Big Boss Pawn and Gun in Giles County, Tennessee. When the pawn shop owner inspected the laptop to confirm it was operable, he found child sexual abuse material on the laptop and contacted law enforcement. Dabbs was identified as the person who pawned the laptop.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on the defendant’s laptop and located images of child sexual abuse material, including images the defendant produced of the minor victim. They also seized multiple electronic devices from his residence.

Following his arrest, Dabbs was interviewed by law enforcement officers, and he admitted creating sexual abuse material of the minor victim, that he engaged in sexual contact with the minor victim on multiple occasions, and that he downloaded and viewed child sexual abuse material on multiple electronic devices.

“The protection of children in our communities from sexual predators is among the highest priorities of the Middle District of Tennessee,” said Acting United States Attorney Robert E. McGuire. “Thanks to the efforts of our prosecutors and our law enforcement partners, Jared Dabbs will never hurt another child again and justice has been done.”

Dabbs was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison on one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and three counts of receipt of child pornography. He will also be on supervised release for 10 years and is required to register as a sex offender. The Court also ordered Dabbs to pay $69,600 in restitution.

Homeland Security Investigations, FBI Nashville Field Office, and the Giles County Sheriff’s Department investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Monica R. Morrison and Robert E. McGuire prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the U.S. government.

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