CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Friday that three men had been arrested and charged with online sexual exploitation of children in Clayton and Coweta counties.
The GBI said two of the men were arrested in Clayton County and one arrested in Coweta following separate reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of "the possible upload and possession of child sexual abuse material."
The three men, ranging in ages from 19-44, were part of a total of eight search warrants that were executed earlier this month. The GBI said the additional warrants could "result in future arrests or additional charges."
The bureau said the cases are not related. In separate releases Friday, the GBI also said one man in Banks County and one man in Jackson County were arrested on similar charges.
"These investigations are part of the ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, housed within the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, to identify those involved in the trade of child sexual abuse material," a GBI statement said. "The ICAC Program, created by the U.S. Department of Justice, was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the Internet, the proliferation of child sexual abuse material, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims."
The GBI directs anyone with information about other cases of child exploitation to contact their Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit at 404-270-8870.
Anonymous tips can also be submitted at 1-800-597-TIPS or online here.
