WOODBURY, Ga. — A deputy clerk of the Meriwether County Magistrate Court, 49-year-old Carol Washington, was arrested on Wednesday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) unit.
The GBI said they began their investigation of Washington after receiving word from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding the possible upload and possession of child pornography to a popular social media application.
According to the GBI, a search warrant was obtained for Washington's home, which led to her arrest.
The GBI said they were assisted in Washington's arrest by the Meriwether County Sheriff's Office.
Washington has been charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children (possession of child pornography) and one count of violation of oath of office, according to the GBI.
She was booked into the Meriwether County Jail.
The investigation is part of an ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is housed in the GBI's CEACC unit. The task force works to identify those involved in the trade of child pornography.
The ICAC program was created by the US Department of Justice. It was created in response to the increasing numbers of children and teens using the internet, the proliferation of child pornography and the heightened level of online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with potential underage victims.
Anyone with information about other cases of child exploitation or child pornography is asked to contact the GBI's Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit at 404-270-8870.
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