Man gets 40 years in prison

An Evans man who initially pleaded not guilty to a series of charges ranging from sexual exploitation of children to possession of a controlled substance changed his plea this week - and will spend at least 15 years in jail.

Jack Wayne Andrews, of the 4500 block of Hardy McManus Road, pleaded guilty to a count of enticing a child for indecent purposes and two counts of sexual exploitation of a child at a negotiated resolution with assistant district attorney Bobby Christine.

Judge Carl Brown sentenced Andrews to 20 years per charge - time that will be served concurrently. Andrews will also serve five years probation.

"It is a good, strong sentence," Christine said. "The victim's family was quite pleased with what Judge Brown did"

Andrews was arrested in February after a year-long investigation by the Columbia County Sheriff's Department.

According to the indictment, Mr. Andrews forced a girl younger than 16 to watch sexually explicit images on television. It also accused Mr. Andrews of reproducing sexually explicit photographs of children younger than 18.

Merely having the photos is a misdemeanor, but the reproduction and regeneration of them using computer devices made it a felony, Mr. Christine said.

Other charges listed on the grand jury indictment were dismissed in the plea agreement, including a count of child molestation, five counts of sexual exploitation of children, three counts of possession of a controlled substance and a count of threatening of a witness.