A former high school teacher has been arrested in Georgia and will be extradited to Tennessee to face several child sex charges, according to the Blount County Sheriff’s Office announcement on Tuesday.
Shane Rewis, 51, from Maryville, was arrested Tuesday morning in Georgia and is awaiting extradition to Tennessee on multiple charges. Earlier this month, a Blount County Grand Jury indicted him on multiple serious charges, including two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child, trafficking for a commercial sex act, three counts of exploitation of a minor by electronic means, and sexual exploitation of a minor.
The Sheriff’s Office started looking into Rewis in May after two underage victims came forward, stating that he had reached out to them online with inappropriate messages and images, according to BCSO. During the investigation, an additional underage victim was discovered.
Following his indictment, the sheriff’s office reported that investigators, along with agents from the U.S. Marshals Service Smoky Mountain Fugitive Task Force and the Southeast Regional Task Force, initiated a search for Rewis. He was taken into custody early Tuesday morning and is now being held at the Seminole County Jail.
In October, the Blount County Sheriff’s Office informed 6 News that it was looking into Rewis, but did not disclose the details of the investigation. Blount County Schools announced that Rewis, a former educator at Heritage High, had resigned from his role at the institution in September, according to his personnel file.
Documents from the personnel file indicate that Rewis was under investigation for explicit communication with a student, which occurred via a social media platform.