Sexual Predator Sentenced After Using SnapChat, Grindr to Solicit Teens

ABINGDON, Va. – A North Carolina man, who used the social media platforms Snapchat and Grindr to exploit teenage boys from Southwest Virginia, was sentenced last week to 151 months in federal prison on federal enticement charges.

Jonathan Avery Shumate, 54, of Warrensville, N.C., pleaded guilty in March 2022 to one count of coercion and enticement of minors.

According to court documents, Shumate used both Snapchat and Grindr to contact teenage males attending Oak Hill Academy in Grayson County, Virginia, and offered to provide vapes and vaping materials in exchange for the sixteen- and seventeen-year-old boys sending him sexually explicit photographs and nude videos of themselves.  In addition to communicating online, Shumate traveled to Oak Hill Academy to deliver the vaping supplies, and also offered to provide oral sex for the juveniles while requesting that they perform oral sex on him.

United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division, made the announcement.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Ashe County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lena L. Busscher prosecuted the case.