A total of 10 people were arrested on charges related to child pornography and at least five children were identified as prior victims during a four day multi-agency operation in Clayton County last week.
As part of the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, several agencies partnered to investigate cybertips received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Those cybertips involved the possession or distribution of explicit child sexual abuse images, commonly referred to as child pornography, in Clayton County.
Those arrested were charged with crimes related to the Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 2007. Additional charges are likely and other arrests will occur after analysis of seized digital devices.
The suspects ranged in age from 19 to 64. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, at least two suspects were previously accused of child molestation and at least one was questioned before related to possession of child pornography.
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During the operation, 17 search warrants were executed and 15 knock and talks were conducted. During those search warrants and knock and talks, 130 digital devices were previewed and more than 30 of those digital devices were seized as evidence. At least one additional arrest occurred based on the discovery of illegal narcotics.
According to the GBI, The operation focused on residents who possess and distribute child sexual abuse images and those who are sexually exploiting children in other ways using technology and the Internet.
The GBI, which manages and coordinates the task force, received more than 7,000 cybertips in 2019. In just the first half of 2020, the task force as received about 6,000 cybertips, and according to the GBI, that number continues to increase exponentially.
These cybertips often lead investigators to children that are being sexually abused.
According to the GBI, during the Clayton County operation, there were seven children found living with those who possessed or distributed child pornography.
To date in 2020, the task force has found almost 60 children living with offenders who are viewing child pornography and identified at least 20 of them as victims of sexual abuse by those offenders as a result of investigating a cybertip.
“There is a known statistical correlation between those who are seeking, collecting, and viewing child sexual abuse material and those that have sexually abused children or are actively sexually abusing children,” said GBI spokesperson Natalie Ammons.
