ATLANTA - An Atlanta man who used Instagram to target and sexually assault three teenage girls was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Teen rapist charges
What we know:
Jacques Jackson, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. Friday on charges including interstate transportation of a minor and enticement of minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity. The prison term will be followed by 10 years of supervised release.
Original rape arrest
The backstory:
According to U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan, police first encountered Jackson in Decatur in August 2018 after DeKalb County police officers "rescued" a 15-year-old girl who was with Jackson in a grocery store.
The victim, with the help of a bystander, flagged down an officer, police said. Jackson admitted to investigators that he met the girl on Instagram and used blackmail to coerce her into meeting him across state lines. He confessed to officers that he punched the girl and destroyed her phone. Jackson was released on bond six months later.
Rape case after release
The backstory:
In October 2021, Jackson targeted a second 15-year-old girl in Elberton, according to prosecutors. Investigators found that the victim used her younger brother's phone to communicate with Jackson before he sent an Uber to pick her up. The two stayed at a motel where Jackson had sex with her multiple times.
Cold case rape
The backstory:
Jackson’s crimes also linked him to a cold case from July 2015. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed that DNA samples from a forcible rape of a 15-year-old in Atlanta matched Jackson’s profile following his 2018 arrest.
Arrested in Texas
Dig deeper:
The FBI tracked Jackson for several months before local law enforcement arrested him at a Greyhound bus station in Big Spring, Texas, in June 2022.
At the time of his arrest, Jackson was traveling with a runaway child and was in possession of a firearm and $3,500 in cash, police said. The child told investigators she met Jackson on Instagram and that he recorded a video of them having sex at an Atlanta-area hotel.
Guilty plea
Dig deeper:
Jackson has remained in custody since his 2022 arrest. He pleaded guilty to the federal charges on May 8, 2025, before being sentenced in January.
The Source: Information in this article came from a release sent to FOX 5 by the U.S. Attorney's Office. That release detailed the crimes, arrest, and sentence.