Man Travels To GA Attempting To Commit Child Molestation: Police

HALL COUNTY, GA — Hall County Sheriff’s Office investigators recently arrested a Pennsylvania man who traveled to Hall County to meet with a boy he’d had online sexual conversations with.

The suspect, Gregory Mancini, 29, of Erie, Pennsylvania, is charged with criminal attempt to commit child molestation and obscene internet contact with a child in the case.

The charges culminated an investigation that began on Oct. 23, when the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, or HCSO, Criminal Investigations Division received a report from the 13-year-old victim’s mother.

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The boy had been playing the game Fortnite and talking via an Xbox headset with an older male,
possibly from Pennsylvania. Over the course of several weeks, the two began to video chat, and the
man turned the conversation to sexual subject matter. As the contact continued, the man said that
he planned to travel to metro Atlanta and wanted to meet with the boy. Realizing the danger of the
situation, the victim told his mother who notified law enforcement.

HCSO detectives assumed the boy’s online identity and resumed communication with the man.

On Friday, Nov. 2, during an operation with the Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad (MANS),
investigators contacted the suspect. He confirmed he was in the Atlanta area and wished to meet
who he thought was the victim. A meeting location was chosen on the south end of Hall County, and investigators began surveillance in the area. Very limited information was provided as to the
identification of the suspect or his vehicle.

At one point, undercover officers pulled next to a suspicious vehicle, but the man behind the wheel
drove off. The suspect then began to chat with the undercover investigator and said he became
“spooked” but was returning to the area. A new meeting location was arranged. A short time later,
the same suspicious vehicle arrived at the new location.

Investigators made contact with the vehicle and occupant, identified as Mancini. The initial
investigation and interview revealed that Mancini was the man the boy had been communicating
with.

Mancini was booked into the Hall County Jail Nov. 3. He was released on $16,900 bond Nov. 8.

The case remains under investigation by the HCSO.

Image via Shutterstock