A 25-year-old McRae, Georgia man was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and a 26-year-old woman from the same town received a 10-year sentence after a federal investigation that began with a missing person report in Oklahoma in November 2024. Noah Zackery Cason pleaded guilty to illegal transportation of a minor, while Alexandra McLain pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography, according to court proceedings in the Dublin Division of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
The sentences were handed down by Senior U.S. District Judge Dudley H. Bowen Jr., who was appointed to the federal bench by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and served as Chief Judge of the Southern District of Georgia from 1997 to 2004, according to a Wikipedia entry on the judge. As first reported by 41NBC News, Cason initially denied, according to authorities, knowing the minor or the child's whereabouts before later admitting to transporting the minor from Oklahoma to Georgia and having sexual contact with the child.
How Investigators Pieced the Case Together
According to the station's report, Cason traveled to Oklahoma in November 2024 to pick up the minor and then transported the child to his residence in McRae. The child's guardian filed a missing person report, which set the investigation in motion. Investigators connected Cason and McLain to the case through online activity, using Snapchat and WhatsApp activity to tie the pair to the child, per the same account.
Court documents and testimony indicate Cason sexually abused the minor during a stop in Alabama and again after returning to McRae. Authorities say Cason recorded the abuse with McLain's knowledge and encouragement, and that McLain was present during several of the assaults. The U.S. Attorney's Office says investigators found videos and images depicting Cason engaged in sexual activity with the minor on the defendants' electronic devices.
Tracking a Vehicle Across State Lines
Investigators also used license plate readers to track the defendants' vehicle, which had traveled a route consistent with travel between Oklahoma and Georgia, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. That tracking, combined with the digital evidence, allowed investigators to locate Cason and McLain at their residence in McRae-Helena. McRae officially merged with adjacent Helena in January 2015 to form McRae-Helena, which serves as the county seat and largest municipality in rural Telfair County, according to a Wikipedia entry on the town.
The investigation and subsequent indictment were announced by U.S. Attorney Margaret E. “Meg” Heap, according to a statement from the Department of Justice. Federal court records reviewed by PacerMonitor show that Cason and McLain were originally indicted under seal on July 10, 2025, by U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher L. Ray, meaning formal federal proceedings were already underway for more than a year before the sentencing.
Sentencing Terms and Supervision Requirements
Cason was ordered to pay a $2,500 fine and will serve 15 years of supervised release after his prison term, during which he must register as a sex offender. McLain was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and will serve 10 years of supervised release, with the same sex offender registration requirement. Both defendants were also ordered to pay a $100 assessment to the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Assistance Fund, an assessment ordered pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 2259A under the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018, according to Georgetown Law.
Cason's 20-year sentence is double the 10-year statutory mandatory minimum required under 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a) for transporting a minor in interstate commerce for illegal sexual activity, which carries a penalty range running up to life imprisonment, per EveryCRSReport. McLain's 10-year sentence, by contrast, falls at exactly half of the 20-year statutory maximum for simple possession of child pornography under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A, a charge that carries no mandatory minimum, according to the Olsinski Law Firm.
No Parole Means Both Will Serve the Bulk of Their Terms
Federal parole was eliminated under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, meaning federal inmates must serve at least 85 percent of their imposed sentences even with maximum good-conduct credit, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. That means neither Cason nor McLain will be eligible for the kind of early release that exists in many state prison systems.
The prosecution was carried out under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative launched in May 2006 to marshal federal, state, and local law enforcement resources against child sexual exploitation. The Dublin Division of the Southern District of Georgia, where the case was heard, holds federal jurisdiction over seven middle-Georgia counties, including Dodge, Johnson, Laurens, Montgomery, Telfair, Treutlen, and Wheeler.
