Sylvester shaken by arrest of church deacon on child molestation, incest charges

By Alan Mauldin

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    SYLVESTER, Georgia (Albany Herald) — The reaction of Worth County residents to the Tuesday arrest of a church deacon was that things like that don’t happen in small towns like Sylvester.

The Worth County Sheriff’s Office has charged business owner Jerry Dan Heflin with 66 felony counts, including child molestation, aggravated sodomy and incest.

The sheriff’s office was releasing only a limited amount of information on Thursday, Worth County Sheriff Don Whitaker said, as the case remains under investigation. The agency is working with the Tifton-based Patticake House Child Advocacy Center and the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services.

Investigators are still conducting interviews on what is still an open case, Whitaker said.

“The investigation is ongoing,” he said. “We’re all working together. We just want to make sure the right thing is done for everybody.”

The sheriff said he could not comment on the age of the child or children involved.

The investigation was launched last week, he said.

Arrest booking reports released by the sheriff’s office said that Heflin, 60, has been charged with 16 counts each of aggravated sodomy and incest, 17 counts of sexual battery against a child under age 16, 15 counts of aggravated child molestation and one count each of rape and child molestation.

A downtown business owner, who identified herself only as Frances, said that residents are concerned about the potential impact on children.

“Everybody says I can’t believe that happened here,” she said. “I think that’s how everybody feels, just shock and concern for children. We’re very fortunate we don’t see a lot of that kind of crime.

“We have a strong police department in the city and the county, so we’re very fortunate. But it’s something we’re not accustomed to hearing about.”

In a photo posted online of church leaders and staff at Unity Baptist Church in Sylvester, Heflin is listed as a deacon.

A second business owner downtown, who said she does not attend Unity Baptist, said that some people in the community are giving the church a “bad name” over the accusations against Heflin. The blame, if those accusations are true, belong with the accused, said the woman who did not wish to be identified.

“Nobody knows what happened,” she said. “I know a lot of people are upset if it’s true. A lot of people are upset for his wife and about the kids. If it’s true, it’s a sad situation.”

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