Dalton man facing multiple child sexual assault charges

DALTON, Georgia(WDEF) – A Dalton man is being held without bond at the Whitfield County Jail after he was indicted on several counts of child sexual assault.

Investigators told News 12 they have a strong case against Jeffery Locklear, 37, of Dalton. The case against Locklear began back in May.

"From the information we gathered and evidence we have, there’s been numerous incidents that have occurred," said Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood.

In an effort to protect the identity of the young victim, News 12 has purposely withheld bits of information such as the school and school employees who got involved to make sure Locklear would be held accountable for the allegations against him.

According to investigators, the case against Locklear was started when the alleged young victim contacted a school counselor to explain what happened. The counselor quickly alerted a Whitfield County School administrator who then contacted law enforcement.

Sheriff Chitwood praised the girl for having the strength to come forward. He also said the public is hearing more about child sexual assaults because more kids know how to report it.

"Years ago, nobody would report it. They didn’t know what to do. They were scared and fearful for what ever reason. But now we’ve educated the public in a way that they know they have resources now. They can tell a responsible party, they can go to law enforcement," Chitwood said.

Aiding law enforcement in this case and other cases involving child sexual assaults is a program called "Darkness to Light." Under the program, every employee of the Whitfield County School District who works with children is required to attend a two hour training course. The course teaches school employees how to recognize signs of abuse. It also teaches employees how to properly receive information from children and then hand that information over to authorities.

"This approach is very different from what we’ve done in the past because we’re talking about prevention. That means something can be stopped. That’s what we want for Whitfield County students; we want the sexual abuse or any type of abuse to stop," said Whitfield County School Social Worker Tracie Hogan.