COMMERCE, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said 56-year-old Steven "Mike" Michael Blackmon was indicted late last month on 31 counts related to various child molestation charges in Commerce, Ga.
Blackmon is currently in custody in Gwinnett County in connection with these charges, according to a GBI release.
The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Commerce Police Department, along with the GBI and the FBI.
Over the course of their investigation, new information has surfaced indicating that Blackmon may have victimized children while he lived in Memphis, Tenn., in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the GBI said.
During the period that he was living in Memphis, they said, Blackmon was going by the name "Mike Blaekman."
They said during that timeframe, he owned a hockey shop named "Hockey Stop Memphis" on the second floor of the now-demolished Mall of Memphis, above the ice skating rink there.
Investigators also discovered that Blackmon coached the Cordova Wolves during his time in Tennessee, the GBI said.
Cordova, Tenn., is a community in the eastern suburbs of Memphis. The Wolves is the nickname for all of the teams associated with Cordova High School, according to 11Alive's Memphis sister station, WATN.
The GBI confirmed that the team that Blackmon coached with part of the Memphis Youth Hockey League at the time.
According to the GBI, Blackmon left the Memphis area in 2002 or 2003 after he was questioned for possible inappropriate contact with children.
The Commerce Police Department said last November that they had identified at least six victims of Blackmon, all reportedly young boys at the time of the alleged crimes.
At that point, they said their investigation of Blackmon stretched back several years, during which they confirmed that Blackmon was arrested in 1992 in Huntsville, Ala., for second-degree sexual abuse.
Investigators from the Commerce Police Department, the GBI and the FBI are looking for any information from anyone who may have known Blackmon while he lived in the Memphis area.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the GBI's Child Exploitation Unit at 404-270-8870.
