North Georgia man arrested in child exploitation sting in Hall County
An undercover sting by Hall County deputies led to a child exploitation charge for a North Georgia man, authorities said.
Sidney Wayne Phillips, 25, of Blue Ridge, was arrested Thursday after he spoke with an individual he thought was a child on a mobile app and attempted to set up a sexual meeting, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
On Nov. 9, Phillips began messaging the person “he knew to be a child” using the app before he “turned the conversation to a sexual nature,” the release said. Investigators said no child was ever in danger.
He asked for them to move the conversation to text messages, and after they did, he asked to meet the individual Nov. 10, the release said.
The suspect didn’t arrive at the meeting location, but detectives were able to determine Phillips’ identity and arrested him, the release said.
He remains in the Hall County Jail without bond, according to jail records.
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Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He's been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people's lives.
