D.A. on sex fugitive’s arrest: He is where he belongs

CLARKSVILLE, Ga. (WTVY) - Officers captured a man on the run after he failed to show up for his sentence.

On May 3, Herbert Earcell Slater pleaded guilty to three charges in Coffee County and received ten years, court records reveal.

After he failed to report to the Coffee County Jail on June 2 as directed, Circuit Judge Judge Shannon R. Clark issued an arrest warrant, and officers captured Slater on July 31.

As part of his plea agreement, the judge gave Slater a month to begin his sentence on convictions that he had sex with a child under 12 and committed sexual abuse.

“Mr. Slater was given an opportunity to get his affairs in order and he took advantage of the situation and the court and failed to abide by the court’s order to surrender to start his sentence,” Coffee County District Attorney James Tarbox told News 4. “He is now where he belongs and where he will remain for the next ten years, day-for-day, and that’s behind bars.”

Slater was captured in Habersham County, about 80 miles north of Atlanta, and faces extradition to Alabama.

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