Eighteen people, including a Hinesville man, were arrested and charged with crimes related to possession, production, or distribution of images of child pornography after a three-month statewide investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit and the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
As a result of this investigation, 24 search warrants were executed in 16 counties Thursday. Law-enforcement officers conducting the searches were looking for evidence of distribution of child pornography using the Internet.
This statewide endeavor, known as Operation Secret Guardian, began in July with GBI agents — along with local and federal Georgia ICAC Task Force affiliates — detecting child pornography images being shared on the Internet.
Over the course of the operation, 69 digital devices were examined, and 232 digital devices were seized as evidence. The 18 arrested were charged with violating the state’s Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 2007, and Additional charges may be forthcoming. Additional arrest warrants have been issued and other arrests may occur after analysis of seized digital devices.
Among those arrested was Samuel Oh, 30, of Hinesville, whose occupation is listed as “military personnel,” according to a GBI news release.
Others arrested include Uriah McCullers, 37, of Bethlehem, whom the GBI listed as a deputy with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, a land-survey worker, an aerospace-company employee, a flooring installer, a tow-truck driver, restaurant workers and a computer engineer.
The operation was a coordinated effort between the following federal, state, and local criminal justice agencies throughout Georgia, including the GBI, Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations.
The targets of Operation Secret Guardian were those who produce or create the demand for production of child pornography, which is essentially visual evidence of the sexual assault of a child. By collecting and distributing this material, they create the demand for production of child pornography.
Georgia ICAC Commander and GBI Special Agent in Charge Debbie Garner applauded the hard work of the Georgia ICAC Task Force during Operation Secret Guardian and every day.
“The investigators who work child-exploitation cases are some of the most dedicated law enforcement officers there are, despite the psychological toll this type of investigation exacts on them,” she said.
The Georgia ICAC Task Force is composed of 200-plus local, state and federal law-enforcement agencies, other related criminal-justice agencies and prosecutor’s offices. The mission of the ICAC Task Force, created by the U.S. Department of Justice and managed and operated in Georgia by the GBI, is to assist state and local law-enforcement agencies in developing an effective response to cyber-enticement and child-pornography cases. This support encompasses forensic and investigative components, training and technical assistance, victim services, prevention, and community education.
The ICAC Program was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the Internet, the proliferation of child pornography and heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims. By helping state and local law-enforcement agencies develop effective and sustainable responses to online child victimization and child pornography, the ICAC program delivers national resources at the local level.
The Georgia ICAC Task Force made 196 arrests in 2014 and has made more than 1,500 arrests since its inception in 2002. The Georgia ICAC Task Force website is www.familyinternet.info, and the GBI website is gbi.georgia.gov.