By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jacob@thevillagereporter.com
A Fulton County Grand Jury has indicted a Fayette teacher on 19 felony counts involving alleged child sex crimes, with offenses ranging from solicitation of a minor to the possession and distribution of illicit materials. The charges were issued Tuesday following an investigation into incidents reported earlier this year.
Owen King, 25, faces multiple charges, including four counts of importuning, eight counts of pandering obscenity, one count of pandering sexually oriented material, one count of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance, and five counts of disseminating material harmful to juveniles.
According to court documents, the alleged offenses took place between January 1 and March 17. Court records allege that King used a telecommunications device to solicit sexual activity from a 15-year-old, despite being aware of the minor’s age.
King appeared in court on Thursday and was released on his own recognizance. Conditions were also set by the judge and are as follows.
“Defendant shall have no unsupervised contact with minors and the defendant shall not use any type of social media. Defendant shall not use, possess or view and pornographic material.’
“Unsupervised contact means to be in the presence of a minor without someone else 21 years of age or older also being present.”
Following the indictment, Fayette Local Schools Superintendent Angie Belcher issued a statement regarding the situation. “The district is aware that Mr. King has been arrested and charged. Mr. King has been on administrative leave since the district first learned of the allegations.”
“Because this is an ongoing matter that is currently open, I cannot speak more about the facts of the matter. However, I can say that we take our role as educators and protectors of student safety seriously and will not tolerate any kind of behavior that jeopardizes our students.”
King’s case will proceed, with his next court appearance expected to take place on June 3rd.