Two Hinesville men were among 26 individuals were arrested over an 11-day period in a statewide child exploitation operation named “Operation Sneaky Peach.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, along with 24 participating agencies that are all part of the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC), Task Force participated in the operation.
Those arrested were charged with sexual exploitation of children, along with other offenses, including Christopher Williams, age 37, of Hinesville, and Kieran Michael O’Connor, age 31, of Hinesville. Both were booked into the Liberty County Jail.
Operation Sneaky Peach was a statewide, multi-jurisdictional coordinated effort by all agencies involved to identify and arrest individuals involved in technology facilitated crimes against children. Operation Sneaky Peach involved three months of planning and included both proactive and reactive cases investigated by the GBI and affiliate agencies with the Georgia ICAC Task Force.
Proactive investigations consisted of targeting peer-to-peer network users sharing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), commonly known as child pornography, and undercover chat investigations targeting those that communicate with and arrange to meet what is believed to be a child for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts. Reactive investigations consisted of working cyber tips received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that involved the possession, distribution, and/or manufacturing of CSAM.
During Operation Sneaky Peach, law enforcement agencies with the Georgia ICAC Task Force executed 34 residential search warrants and three additional enforcement actions in 28 counties across Georgia. These search warrants and other enforcement actions resulted in the arrest of 26 individuals. Digital forensic investigators previewed 296 electronic devices on scene and seized 281 electronic devices to include cellular phones, tablets, computers, hard drives, and various electronic data storage devices. Operation Sneaky Peach identified 30 children that were residing in households where online child sexual exploitation was occurring.
Four of those arrested during Operation Sneaky Peach admitted to current or prior hands-on sexual offenses against a child.
The following individuals were arrested during Operation Sneaky Peach and charged with Sexual Exploitation of Children and other related offenses.