GBI Searches Watkinsville Home in Connection with Child Porn Investigation

Watkinsville Police assisted agents of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation this morning as a search warrant was issued at a residence on VFW Drive.

Police Chief Lee O'Dillon said the search was part of a months-long investigation into the distribution of child pornography over the Internet.

"Basically they're just gathering evidence at this point to determine if there's enough evidence to charge anybody, make an arrest," he said.

At least one computer was seized from the home, he said, which the GBI will analyze.

"It will be up to the GBI whether anyone is charged today.  The normal protocol for that is they will examine the evidence and then either take a warrant or present the evidence to a grand jury," O'Dillon explained.  "It's kind of rare, unless some other things are found, it's pretty rare to make an arrest on the spot.  But they are examining and confiscating the computer from this address." 

According to a news release issued last week, “Operation Guarding Innocence,”  a coordinated effort between the GBI and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, has resulted in at least 78 searches in 37 other counties targeting nearly 100 people believed to be involved in the trade of the illegal images.  It's being touted as the largest operation of its kind in Georgia.

An Athens man is among 47 who've been charged so far, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.  The newspaper reports that no makers of child porn were identified during the investigation, but images were allegedly found on electronic devices belonging to those who'd been arrested.

Watkinsville Police were notified about the operation a few weeks ago, O'Dillon said, and, acting as a supporting agency to the GBI, officers have been running surveillance on the home.

"We'll do whatever it takes to support them," O'Dillon said.  "We certainly just can't knowingly stand by and let this sort of thing go on in a residential neighborhood full of children. We take it very seriously."

The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, created by the U. S. Department of Justice and housed within the GBI, was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the Internet, the proliferation of child pornography, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims, the GBI news release states. There have been 974 arrests in Georgia by the ICAC Task Force since it was established in 2002.

You might also be interested in reading:

• Charges Pile Up Against Watkinsville Man Accused of Child Molestation
• Watkinsville Man Back in Jail on Additional Child Molestation Charges

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