CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — A man from Waleska, Georgia has once again become the center of a child pornography investigation, the Department of Justice reported in a press release. Convicted for possession of child pornography over a decade ago, the 49-year-old pleaded guilty in a new case on Thursday.
In March 2021, a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children concerning a Dropbox account user that had uploaded files depicting children under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct sparked an investigation. Cherokee County deputies executed search warrants for both the Dropbox account and an associated email account, where officials discovered nearly 600 images, videos, and gifs of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Deputies arrested the 49-year-old man on June 14, executing an arrest warrant for the contents of the individual's laptop and phone in the process. Child pornography was discovered on the man's computer hard drive.
“It is particularly disturbing when a defendant who has already served a significant federal sentence for possession of child pornography returns to society only to again engage in this kind of violation of children,” U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine said in the press release. “Possessing child pornography victimizes and abuses the children in the images each time they are disseminated and viewed. This office remains committed to protecting our children from those that seek to exploit them.”
The individual was convicted for possession of child pornography in a separate March 2010 case within the Northern District of Georgia, the Department of Justice reported. The man now faces revocation of his supervised release that began in August 2019.
After pleading guilty to possession of child pornography on Dec. 16, the man's sentencing is scheduled for March 24, 2022.