Eighteen people have been arrested following a three-month operation by law enforcement officials looking for evidence of distribution of child pornography using the Internet, and more arrests are expected in the coming days.
Forty-four search warrants were executed in 31 counties Wednesday as part of a statewide endeavor known as “Operation MasqueRAID,” the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced. The investigation was coordinated by the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit (CEACC) and the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.
The effort began in July and centered on GBI agents, along with local and federal task force affiliates, detecting child pornography images being shared using the Internet. The operation’s goal was to arrest people who possessed, produced or distributed the images, with an emphasis on those deemed to be the most prolific offenders of child pornography laws.
All 18 people arrested so far have been charged with violation of the Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 2007.
Those arrested were:
- Ian Squires, 30, of Spaulding County
- William Roach, 27, Fulton County
- Jonathon Earls, 24, Habersham County
- Clark Bowen, 47, Rabun County
- Chauncey Jones, 34, Clayton County
- Jose A. Clemente-Sanchez, 31, Elbert County
- Mauricio Morales-Garcia, 32, Fulton County
- Dwight Davis, 20, Polk County
- William Rosado-Vazquez, 49, Douglas County
- James Petry, 80, Fannin County
- Devin Lewis, 42, Upson County
- Christian Harris, 23, Cobb County
- Rodney Cook, 49, Clarke County
- Jerry Griffin, 73, Forsyth County
- Glasford Simpson, 36, Gwinnett County
- David Hornick, 37, Union County
- George Adams, 18, Wilcox County
- Thomas Lagomasino, 22, Forsyth County
Authorities as part of their investigations had seized nearly 600 digital devices as of Wednesday afternoon.
The Georgia ICAC Task Force made 198 arrests in 2013 and has made more than 1,300 arrests since its inception in 2002.
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