COVINGTON — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation executed a residential search warrant pertaining to an ongoing Sexual Exploitation of Children investigation at a Covington man’s home on Wednesday.
According to the GBI, 65-year-old Johnny Jay Farino was charged with sexual exploitation of children (distribution of child pornography).
“At the time of his arrest, Farino was on the Georgia Sex Offender Registry after he was arrested in 2011 by the GBI and the Newton County Sheriff’s Office for the Sexual Exploitation of Children,” GBI spokesman Tony Lima said.
Farino was taken to the Newton County Jail.
The investigation began after the GBI received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The cybertip involved the possession or distribution of explicit child sexual abuse material, commonly referred to as child pornography, which resolved to Newton County.
Anyone with information about other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit at 404-270-8870. Tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
⚠️ Reminder: Crime articles contain only charges and information from police reports and law enforcement statements. Suspects and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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