A Chamblee police officer was arrested at his home in Paulding County on Monday on two counts of distributing child sexual abuse material, according to the GBI.
Roy Collar, 48, was taken into custody by Paulding sheriff’s deputies and state agents after they executed a search warrant at his house, the GBI said. Following his arrest, Chamblee police said Collar had been relieved of his duties without pay, pending the outcome of the investigation.
The GBI said investigators began looking into Collar after receiving a Cyber Tipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The tip linked Collar to the possible distribution of child sexual abuse material, the state agency said, though no other details were provided about the nature of the content. Chamblee police assisted with the investigation, the GBI said.
“The CPD is troubled by these allegations. We will continue to monitor the progress of this investigation,” an agency spokeswoman said.
Collar has been an officer with CPD for 10 years, according to records kept by Georgia’s Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST). He has been a police officer since 1998, with stints at the Cobb County Police Department, Austell Police Department and Braswell Police Department.
POST records show Collar was previously sanctioned at the Austell Police Department in 2008, receiving a public reprimand and a 24-month probationary period. The records do not provide details about the circumstances of an officer’s sanctions.
The investigation into Collar remains active, the GBI said.
Anyone with information about this or other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the GBI’s Child Exploitation Unit at 404-270-8870 or report via NCMEC’s Cyber Tipline at CyberTipline.org. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), visiting https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online or downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
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