50-year-old Valdosta man faces 27 years in federal prison for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl in a hotel

The following is from a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office – Middle District of Georgia dated July 12, 2024:

LOWNDES COUNTY, Georgia. – A resident of Valdosta, Georgia, was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for luring and coercing a 13-year-old child into a hotel room, giving her alcohol and sexually abusing her.

Dewayne Howell, 50, was sentenced on July 11 by U.S. District Judge W. Louis Sands to 324 months in prison followed by 12 years of probation. He was also ordered to pay $4,050 in restitution to Minor Victim 1 (MV1). In addition, Howell must register as a child sex offender upon his release.

Howell was found guilty by a federal court jury on one count of coercion and enticement of a minor on February 6, 2024. There is no parole in the federal system.

“Child molesters who target the most vulnerable members of our society will face harsh penalties in federal court,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “I want to thank local law enforcement officials in the Valdosta community for helping us bring this defendant to justice for his crime.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Dewayne Howell and his brother, Laronce Howell, picked up 13-year-old MV1 and her 16-year-old sister near their home on October 2, 2020. They drove to a liquor store where Dewayne Howell purchased alcohol and then to a hotel in Valdosta where he rented a hotel room.

Dewayne Howell took MV1 alone to the hotel room, where he sexually assaulted her. Hotel surveillance video showed Dewayne Howell then allowed Laronce Howell and MV1’s sister into the room. The adult men gave the children alcohol before eventually taking them back home.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of sexual exploitation and abuse of children launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006.

Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state, and local resources to track down, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was investigated by the Valdosta Police Department and the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Howard prosecuted the case for the government.