Federal authorities have arrested a 53-year-old man they say tried to have teenage boys in Grayson County pay him for vape supplies with nude photos of themselves.
On January 24, Jonathan Avery Shumate, 53, of Warrensville, North Carolina, was arrested and charged with one count of attempting to engage in sexually explicit conduct with a minor, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
For about a month, starting in mid-November 2021, he used Snapchat and Grindr to contact two boys, ages 16 and 17, and eventually gave them his cell phone number, according to court documents.
Not long after their conversations began, shortly before Thanksgiving, Shumate came to Grayson County, brought the boys vaping supplies and was paid with cash.
The same day he came up to Virginia, the 17-year-old said that Shumate asked him for sexually explicit photos of himself, according to court documents.
On December 3, school staff found a bag in a drainage ditch left by a man in a green Jeep. Court records indicate that inside the bag were vapes, vaping supplies and a receipt that contained the last four digits of the card used to make the purchase.
Shumate did receive sexually explicit images from one of the boy and court records show that he also offered to perform oral sex on the two boys.
Court records also show that Shumate made a trip to the house of one of the boys to deliver vaping supplies while the boy’s parents were not at home.
“Without caution and awareness, social media platforms can easily become a catalyst for predatory behavior as demonstrated by Mr. Shumate,” said Special Agent in Charge Stanley M. Meador of the FBI’s Richmond Division in a news release on Monday. “Protecting unsuspecting youth from what could become life-long consequences at the hands of online predators is a responsibility the FBI and our partners take very seriously. If you’ve been victimized, or know of a similar situation occurring, please report it to us at 1-804-261-1044, or online at tips.fbi.gov.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Ashe County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the case.
Source: WSLS News 10