During probable cause and bond hearings last week, details emerged about sex trafficking charges against Pickens County resident Roland Buchanan, 67.
Buchanan’s defense attorneys argued there is no evidence that the victim exists or that Buchanan took steps to follow through with plans discussed in the e-mails presented as evidence.
Buchanan, who was at one time a prominent Jasper business owner, was arrested on Monday, Sept. 13. He was charged with one count of Criminal Intent to Commit the Offense of Human Trafficking, one count of Criminal Attempt to Commit Aggravated Child Molestation, one count of Pandering, and one count of Sexual Exploitation of Children by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation & Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit.
Buchanan was well-established in the poultry farming business locally, and in the early 80s operated a restaurant on Cove Road that later became the Jasper Family Steakhouse. He more recently purchased and later sold a Pickens County dry cleaning business.
According to testimony of GBI investigator Tricia Keenan with the CEACC Unit, Google Chat messages and emails from Buchanan’s work and home computers show that he attempted to arrange sexual relations with a 13-year-old girl in the Philippines.
See more details in this week’s print or online editions.
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