Law enforcement arrested 26 individuals, including two from Bartow County, over eleven days in a statewide child exploitation operation named “Operation Sneaky Peach.” The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit and 24 participating agencies that are all part of the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force participated in the operation.
Operation Sneaky Peach was a statewide, multi-jurisdictional, coordinated effort by all agencies to identify and arrest individuals involved in technology-facilitated crimes against children. Operation Sneaky Peach involved three months of planning. It included proactive and reactive cases investigated by the GBI and affiliate agencies with the Georgia ICAC Task Force. Proactive investigations targeted peer-to-peer network users sharing Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), commonly known as child pornography, and undercover chat investigations targeting those that communicate with and arrange to meet what suspects believed to be children to engage in sexual acts. Reactive investigations consisted of working CyberTips received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that involved the possession, distribution, or manufacturing of CSAM.
During Operation Sneaky Peach, law enforcement agencies with the Georgia ICAC Task Force executed 34 residential search warrants and three additional enforcement actions in 28 counties across Georgia. These search warrants and other enforcement actions resulted in the arrest of 26 individuals. Digital forensic investigators previewed 296 electronic devices on scene. They seized 281 electronic devices, including cellular phones, tablets, computers, hard drives, and various electronic data storage devices. Operation Sneaky Peach identified 30 children residing in households where online child sexual exploitation was occurring. Four arrested during Operation Sneaky Peach admitted to current or prior hands-on sexual offenses against a child.
The following individuals were arrested during Operation Sneaky Peach and charged with Sexual Exploitation of Children and other related offenses. They were booked into the county jails as listed below.
- Randy Ho, age 22, of Forest Park, Georgia (Clayton County)
- William Ellis, age 33, of Cleveland, Georgia (White County)
- Russell Summerville, age 38, of Athens, Georgia (Clarke County)
- Jeffery Lynn, age 51, of Rossville, Georgia (Walker County)
- Michael Beane, age 58, of Waycross, Georgia (Ware County)
- James Lail, age 48, of Macon, Georgia (Jones County)
- Jeremy Gunn, age 33, of Fayetteville, Georgia (Fayette County)
- Douglas Strong, age 64, of Auburn, Georgia (Barrow County)
- Bennie House, age 35, of East Ellijay, Georgia (Gilmer County)
- Thaddeus Anderson, age 34, of Canton, Georgia (Cherokee County)
- Jimmy Evans, age 65, of Milledgeville, Georgia (Baldwin County)
- Paul Angel, age 70, of Danielsville, Georgia (Madison County)
- Trent Bailey, age 33, of Hartwell, Georgia (Hart County)
- Brian Jones, age 38, of Roopville, Georgia (Heard County)
- Ethan Cook, age 18, of Canton, Georgia (Cherokee County)
- Carl Hill, age 42, of Cartersville, Georgia (Bartow County)
- Damian Wright, age 22, of Acworth, Georgia (Bartow County)
- Dustin Bohrer, age 39, of St. Simons Island, Georgia (Glynn County)
- Carey William Wiley Lewis, age 35, of Savannah, Georgia (Chatham County)
- Christopher Williams, age 37, of Hinesville, Georgia (Liberty County)
- Kieran Michael O’Connor, age 31, of Hinesville, Georgia (Liberty County)
- Trevious Murrell, age 35, of Americus, Georgia (Sumter County)
- Jesse Kelley, age 31, of Talking Rock, Georgia (Pickens County)
- David Latta, age 52, of Lawrenceville, Georgia (Gwinnett County)
- Zachary Mitchell Allen, age 40, of Decatur, Georgia (DeKalb County)
In addition to those listed, one offender was a minor and received a juvenile complaint.
More arrests may be forthcoming in this investigation once complete forensic processing of the seized electronic devices has occurred.
The following Georgia ICAC Task Force affiliate agencies participated in Operation Sneaky Peach:
Athens-Clarke County Police Department
Barrow County Sheriff’s Office
Bartow County Sheriff’s Office
Bryan County Sheriff’s Office
Candler County Sheriff’s Office
Camden County Sheriff’s Office
Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office
Fayette County Sheriff’s Office
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Georgia State Patrol
Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office
Gwinnett County Police Department
Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office
Hall County Sheriff’s Office
Heard County Sheriff’s Office
Homeland Security Investigations
Houston County Sheriff’s Office
Jones County Sheriff’s Office
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Polk County Police Department
Richmond County Sheriff’s Office
Rincon Police Department
St. Mary’s Police Department
United States Secret Service
This investigation is part of the ongoing effort by the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, housed within the GBI Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, to identify those involved in trading Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). The ICAC Program, created by the U.S. Department of Justice, was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the Internet, the proliferation of CSAM, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.
Anyone with information about these cases or other cases of child exploitation should contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Unit at 404-270-8870.
People can submit anonymous tips by calling 1-800-597-TIPS(8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.