Athens man sentenced to prison for sexual exploitation of children

By Joe Johnson

A 41-year-old Athens man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to multiple counts of sexual exploitation of children.

Jason Carleton Coates had been arrested in September 2021 following a probe by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit.

A search of electronic devices at his Peabody Street residence found disturbing images that included boys and girls being tortured and having sex with animals.

Coates was subsequently indicted on five counts of sexual exploitation of children.

He pleaded guilty to two of the counts last month and was sentenced to four years in prison and 16 years of probation,