The opening of a North Georgia treatment center for sexually exploited girls has been jeopardized by a major burglary, and the GBI is seeking the public's help in catching the thieves.
The "large-scale commercial burglary" occurred June 6 at the Downing Clark Hope Center and Academy in Adairsville in Gordon County. The GBI said 50 to 60 computer towers, 20 to 30 boxed Dell computers, Nintendo and X-Box systems, printers, projectors and a DVD player were among stolen property.
Executive Director Cindy Downing said the thieves also destroyed the center's phone, computer and security surveillance systems.
Downing said more than $100,000 worth of equipment, some of it donated, was stolen. She doesn't expect insurance to cover all of the cost of replacing computers and making the infrastructure repairs.
"We feel very violated," Downing said Wednesday, "very, very violated. This has set us back emotionally and financially."
Downing said the center was a finalist for a $250,000 grant but she fears the effort may have been jeopardized by the burglary. Philanthropists who visited the center the morning after the burglary appeared shaken at the extent of the damage and vandalism, she said.
Downing co-founded the center in 2005 with her sister, Kelli Clark, to serve girls with emotional and behavioral problems. The center, which had been closed since March 2010, was being prepared for a September re-opening to serve girls who have been victims of the state's sex trafficking industry. The September launch probably will have to be pushed back by several months, Downing said.
She said no one was staying at the center, 60 miles north of Atlanta, at the time of the burglary.
Downing, who had been at the center earlier in the day June 6, faulted the Gordon County Sheriff's Department for not fully investigating the burglary when a security alarm first sounded that night. She said officers were given a wrong pass code for entering the property's gate when they arrived. Rather than using the right code that was given a while later, the officers left the property, which consists of several buildings that can't be seen from the gate, including a 5,000-square-foot dorm and administration building.
When reached Wednesday, the Gordon County Sheriff's Department would not address Downing's claims and would only say that the investigation has been turned over to the GBI.
The GBI released images from a surveillance camera that shows a black man in a blue T-shirt and white gloves walking through a hallway at the center.
The GBI said tips can be phoned in at 1-800-597-TIPS (8477).
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