Alleged Newton County child molesters arrested in Florida

One of two Newton County fugitives accused of molesting a 5-year-old girl and arrested Sunday in Florida was released from jail on lesser charges days earlier.

Police captured Donald Mac Brown, 36, Sunday after he tried to carjack a woman in Alachua, Fla., about 15 miles north of Gainesville, Fla. By then, the other fugitive, David Wesley Crawford, 57, had tued himself in to Alachua Police.

Police thought the avid outdoorsmen had been hiding in the woods of Newton County after they told family members they would not go back to jail. They had been on the run since last week.

Brown bonded out of the Rockdale County jail on pandering charges just days before his Florida arrest, according to a timeline compiled from police records by the AJC.

Brown admitted to sending a text message asking for sex in exchange for $300 and was arrested Nov. 28, according to a Conyers Police incident report.

The same day, while Brown was in jail, federal agents searched his Newton County home, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Vincent Picard, adding that Brown had been under investigation by federal authorities for more than a month.

He had child poography on his phone, Conyers police Lt. Jackie Dunn told the Atlanta Joual-Constitution. We discovered past and present child molestations some that occurred within the jurisdiction of the Rockdale County Sheriffs Department and some that occurred in Newton County.

On Nov. 30, Brown bonded out for $2,000 on the pandering charge.

Before [the child poography] charges could be substantiated and warrants secured, he made bond [on the pandering charge], said Dunn.

The following Monday, Dec. 3, Rockdale County Magistrate Court Judge Joy Wright signed the Conyers arrest warrant charging Brown with child exploitation. A day later, Newton County charged Brown and Crawford with child molestation.

Then, the search began, with dozens of law enforcement officers and U.S. Marshals swarming the woods of Newton County.

It is unclear how Crawford and Brown know one another. But authorities said both men have had previous brushes with the law and both were known to spend long periods of time in the woods.

Dunn called Brown a transient, saying he lived in the basement of the Conyers home.

When we went to Newton County to look for him, he was actually living in a tent behind a family members house, Dunn said.

Police said Crawford called 911 Sunday moing to surrender, and was carrying a .357 handgun tucked in his pants when they arrested him without incident.

Brown, however, didnt give up easily.

It was about 12 in the afteoon when he went after the woman in her car, Alachua detective Jesse Sandusky told the Atlanta Joual-Constitution.

According to police, Brown tried to carjack a woman at gunpoint, punching her in the face and ordering her to drive.

She was screaming and yelling and it must have scared him, because he got out of the car, Sandusky said.

She called police and officers arrived, finding Brown less than a half mile from where hed left the woman, police said.

He led them on a short foot chase, but was eventually arrested with two handguns and a rifle on his person, authorities said.

He didnt know Crawford had tued himself in, Sandusky said.

Both Crawford and Brown are being held in the Alachua County Jail without bond.

Newton County Sheriffs spokeswoman Courtney Morrison said the two will have to answer for their crimes in Florida before they retu to Georgia.

Then the extradition will run its course, Morrison said.

In addition to child molestation, child exploitation, solicitation of sodomy, and child enticement charges in Georgia, Brown has also been charged with kidnapping, burglary, obstruction and tampering with evidence.

Crawford, who was charged in Newton County with child molestation, enticing a minor for indecent purposes and solicitation for sodomy can add carrying a concealed weapon to the offenses against him.

Were just glad everything tued out the way it did, Sandusky said. Whenever a person says theyre not going back to jail, they usually try to do something bad or hurt someone.

Donald Mac Brown and David Wesley Crawford (aboveo), wanted since last week for allegedly sexually assaulting a 5-year-old last month, were arrested Sunday just north of Gainesville, Fla.

Donald Mac Brown (above) and David Wesley Crawford, wanted since last week for allegedly sexually assaulting a 5-year-old last month, were arrested Sunday just north of Gainesville, Fla