Dillard father charged with cruelty to children

A Dillard father was arrested Saturday in a drunken stupor after authorities found his two young children running in the road naked.

Around 5:15 p.m., deputies were dispatched to HWY 246 after the caller reported that two small children were galavanting up and down the street without any clothing on and were left unattended.

A friendly civilian had gotten the kids off the road and had the children in custody when deputies arrived at the scene to retrieve the children and take them back to their residence.

One child was 7 years old, and the other 3 years old – both had no shoes or socks on.

Authorities drove the children back to the address where they lived, an apartment complex off 441 in Dillard. Upon arrival, they made contact with a female who was so intoxicated that she was unable to form complete sentences but did give authorities a phone number to the parents of the children.

One deputy stayed with the children at the apartment complex while another went to speak with the father of the children who was allegedly watching the children earlier in the day.

Upon arrival at the house, the father of the children Patrick Lynn Jackson, 32, of Dillard, was observed to be clearly intoxicated.

Jackson told law enforcememnt upon being questioned about why his children were running down the road naked, that the children “must have snuck out” while he was watching TV.

Jackson was arrested and charged with two counts of Cruelty to Children – 2nd degree and was transported to the Rabun County Detention Center. The children were turned over to their mother.