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Three South Carolinians were arrested by agents of the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) this month and charged with harboring an escaped convict – one wanted in connection with human trafficking.
Twenty-year-old Kalynn Jade Cloud and 30-year-old Amani Nekwan Vaughn – both of Port Royal, S.C. – were charged by SLED, along with 27-year-old Guy Frank Talley III of Beaufort, S.C.
According to probable cause affidavits accompanying warrants for their arrest, Cloud, Vaughn and Talley assisted 29-year-old Jaquan Duvall Barnes in his escape from the Jasper County detention center last month. All three allegedly helped “arrange” Barnes’ escape, while Talley “harbored Barnes at his residence” in Beaufort following his escape.
Cloud and Vaughn “assisted with the harboring,” according to the affidavits.
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Barnes “escaped with the use of tools and a prior arranged escape plan” as he was awaiting trial on a host of charges, police allege. He was taken into custody on July 7, 2024 by officers of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in Jacksonville, Florida.
Four days later, Barnes was extradited to South Carolina and charged with human trafficking of a minor, two counts of second degree sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of third degree sexual exploitation of a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and unlawful escape.
As for Cloud, Vaughn, and Talley, they were booked into the Beaufort County detention center on their charges. Their cases will be handled by the office of S.C. fourteenth circuit solicitor Duffie Stone.
As with anyone accused of committing any crime, Cloud, Vaughn and Talley are considered innocent until proven guilty by our criminal justice system – or until such time as any of them may wish to enter some form of allocution in connection with a plea agreement with prosecutors related to any of the charges filed against them.
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Agents from SLED’s alcohol, narcotics and vice department investigate human trafficking-related crimes based on referrals from the S.C. Department of Social Services (SCDSS), S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice (SCDJJ), the office of attorney general Alan Wilson, local law enforcement and the National Human Trafficking Hotline. They routinely partner with local, county and federal law enforcement agencies in their effort to combat these crimes.
For more information on efforts to combat human trafficking in South Carolina, visit this site maintained by the attorney general’s office.
To report human trafficking, please visit the national hotline here or call 888-373-7888. Reports can also be issued via text at 233733 (BeFree).
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RELEASE/ WARRANTS…
(SLED)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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1 comment
Some bottom feeder is preparing a motion to dismiss.