ANDY NGO REPORTS: Georgia trans person faces more than 50 child sex abuse felonies following arrest at daycare

A trans person suspected of child sex abuse was arrested at an in-home child daycare in Paulding County, Ga.

Dion Blake Keaton, an 18-year-old transgender person who identifies as a woman, was first arrested by Dallas Police on Feb. 23 on suspicion of three felony counts of sexual exploitation of children, and felony purchase, possession, manufacture, distribution or sale of controlled substances. (Keaton was found with a white powder at the daycare believed to be meth, according to the police report.)

Keaton’s iPhone and laptop were confiscated as part of the arrest. Following an investigation of those devices, Keaton was re-arrested on March 31 on suspicion of an additional 50 felony counts of sexual exploitation of children. Though Keaton was arrested weeks ago, the daycare-connected nature of the case and Keaton’s transgender identity is now being reported exclusively by The Post Millennial.

Trans person Dion B. Keaton was arrested on Feb. 23

According to the police report of the first arrest in February, Keaton was found at her residence shared with her mother Pamela Lynn Keaton. The home doubles as the New Beginnings Learning Center, a daycare run by Pamela.


The day care center and residence where Dion Keaton was arrested on suspicion of child sex crimes
 

Keaton’s first bond was set at $11,200, which was quickly paid and she was released within hours, according to the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office. After her second arrest on suspicion of 50 additional felony child sex crime charges, her bond was set at $27,700 which was paid four days later. A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office told TPM that at her arrest in March, Keaton told the jail she is trans. She was placed in a single cell unit.

Dion Keaton was re-arrested on March 31
 

When this journalist called the daycare where Keaton once resided and spoke with the suspect’s mother and daycare operator, she denied knowing Dion Keaton. 

“He doesn’t live here. I don’t even know who that is,” Pamela said. When asked if Dion was related to her, she said, “No.” However, Facebook posts by Pamela show she uploaded photo of people identified as her adult children, which include Dion. The two also tagged each other in posts.

Dion Keaton’s mother, Pamela Lynn Keaton, runs the New Beginnings Learning Center where Dion was arrested on suspicion of child sex crimes. Pamela has a tattoo of Dion’s name on her chest.




Dion Keaton tagged her mother Pamela Keaton on many social media posts

Pamela Keaton posted a photo of Dion Keaton and her other adult children, but she denies knowing Dion when The Post Millennial called

During the phone call, in which Pamela grew increasingly irate, crying children could be heard in the background. She ended the call and then called back telling this journalist, “Don’t ever call me again.” She then accused this writer of being a “foreigner” and repeated, “I don’t know a Dion Keaton.” 

The Dallas Police have not released information about their child sex crimes investigation into Keaton. It is unknown if children in the daycare are among the victims. The case was referred to the Dallas Police following two cyber tips made by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to the Paulding County Sheriff’s Department.

Keaton’s family has defended her on social media. In response to a mugshot posting of Dion on Facebook, her sister, Tiffany Keaton, claimed the content was photos of Dion when she was underage, not other children.  



Dion Keaton’s sister says the police accusations of child sex exploitation are bogus

The district attorney’s office has not yet moved to indict Keaton, but a person in the office told TPM it can take weeks or longer following an arrest for that to occur. 

Keaton’s release conditions bar her from returning to the daycare after retrieving her belongings with police escort. She is also banned from using a computer in a private location, from lingering at a location where children under 16 years old are present and from making contact with children under 16.