Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Team (SOCET) joint inter-agency task force and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) deputies arrested a suspect today for attempting to use a local victim to create child exploitation images.
The suspect, Jesse Ray Hawkinson, 62, of White City, has been charged with two counts of attempting to use a child in the display of sexually explicit content.
JCSO arrested Hawkinson around 7:00 this morning at his residence on the 8300 block of 24th Street in White City. SOCET served a search warrant at the location on April 28 after the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) Child Welfare division received a report of a possible sex abuse of a local juvenile girl. During the warrant detectives located evidence, and further investigations led to the arrest.
SOCET is a joint inter-agency task force that started in June of 2020 to combat child exploitation and human trafficking. The task force consists of investigators from JCSO, Oregon State Police, Medford Police Department, Grants Pass Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigations, and Homeland Security Investigations; as well as prosecutors from our local, state and federal law enforcement partners in Jackson and Josephine County.
Due to Hawkinson’s previous contact with children, investigators believe he may have other victims. If anyone has additional information on the suspect, please call the JCSO tip line at (541) 774-8333.
Jackson County District Attorney’s office will prosecute the case.
Courtesy of JCSO
