ATLANTA (AP) – Authorities say a roundup operation targeting child pornography suspects resulted in 82 arrests across eight Southeastern states.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a news release Friday that 31 of the arrests occurred in Georgia. Most of them involved charges of possessing or distributing child pornography. The GBI said some were charged after making plans to have sex with people the suspects met online and believed were minors, but were actually law enforcement officers.
About 171 agencies also took part in the crackdown that also included in Alabama, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
Five of the 82 arrested were from various parts of North Carolina. The NC Bureau of Investigation says the following suspects were charged:
- Joshua Hall, Guilford County Sheriff’s Office, charged with indecent liberties with a minor
- Christopher John Authement, arrested in Nash County by SBI, charged with 2nd degree sexual exploitation of a minor (limited information, part of an ongoing investigation)
- George Beall, Homeland Security Investigations – Charlotte, charged with federal probation violations, possession of child pornography
- David Kimball, Cary Police Department, charged with sexual exploitation of a minor
- Paul Sullivan, Cary Police Department, charged with sexual exploitation of a minor
The SBI said Operation Southern Impact III was planned for four months and the arrests came after three days of undercover operations, executing search warrants and other actions.
