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34 arrested in Georgia in Operation Southern Impact II

The eight-state child exploitation operation arrested more than 70 people in eight states and seized more than 1,200 digital devices.
Credit: ChiccoDodiFC
Police patrol car with flashing lights

DECATUR, Ga. - A total of 76 people – some of them postal workers, pastors and daycare administrators – were arrested as part of a massive, multi-state child exploitation operation conducted across eight southern states, including Georgia.

In Georgia, 34 people were arrested during Operation Southern Impact II, according to the GBI. Many of those arrests involved the possession and/or distribution of child pornography.

Officials said Operation Southern Impact II investigators targeted those seeking out and distributing the most violent child pornography involving infants and toddlers.

Six of those arrested in Georgia traveled for the purpose of meeting and having sex with a minor. There was one arrest involving sextortion, which involves subjects who obtain sexually explicit photos of minors and then threaten or blackmail the victim for additional obscene images or videos.

Eight registered sex offenders were also arrested in Georgia. At least one foster parent with young children was arrested.

There were also searches conducted where guns were found and illegal drugs were discovered.

Operation Southern Impact II began about four months ago and culminated in two days of search warrant executions, undercover operations, and arrests in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. More than 220 law enforcement and legal agencies participated, including almost every metro Atlanta police department and sheriff's office.

Those arrested ranged in age from 17 to 72. Some of their occupations included postal worker, non-profit employee, small business owner, store clerk, mechanic, daycare administrator, pastor, construction worker and magician. More than 1,200 digital devices such as cell phones and computers were seized.

In Georgia, the arrestees, ranged in age from 17 to 63. Some of their occupations included construction worker, truck driver, disc jockey, youth director, and a restaurant worker.

Here are the names of those arrested in Georgia:

  1. Wesley Bunker, 27, Rome, GA, retail store employee
  2. Tony Burton, 52, Lawrenceville, GA, unemployed
  3. Eric A. Burgess, 17, Suwannee, GA, student
  4. Jason R. Cash, 34, Monroe, GA, electrician
  5. Anthony L. Crane, 39, Cartersville, GA, construction worker
  6. Jeffery Declouet, 46, Suwannee, GA, IT support employee
  7. Mark D. Driver, 36, Fort Valley, GA, truck stop employee
  8. Kyam Forsyth, 25, Eatonton, GA, unemployed
  9. Bill E. Garner, 54, Resaca, GA, unemployed
  10. John Garrett, 62, Roswell, GA, former manager of commercial bus service
  11. John P. Hart, Jr., 34, Sandersville, GA, unemployed
  12. Aaron C. Helton, 36, Adairsville, GA, unknown
  13. Bryan E. Holloway, 45, Winston, GA, truck driver
  14. Mark Horn, 31, Dallas, GA, vocational training non-profit employee
  15. Gordon L. Ingebritsen, 53, Duluth, GA, unemployed
  16. Shawn M. Kemp, 31, Cedartown, GA, postal employee
  17. Nicholas Knight, 29, Dublin, GA, unemployed
  18. Jeffery Lance, 26, Silver, Creek, GA, school board employee/church youth director
  19. Donald Allen McFall, 31, Columbus, GA, unemployed
  20. Stephen McGatha, 49, Cedartown, GA, unknown
  21. John Clark Miller, 57, Winder, GA, glass company technician
  22. Jonathan Okelly, 37, Douglasville, GA, unknown
  23. Andrew Orr, 34, Marietta, GA, part-time freighter
  24. Daniel Pacheco, 27, Tucker, GA, disc jockey
  25. Hershell Kyle Pirkle, 29, restaurant worker
  26. Eric Wolfgang Rauth, 35, Elgin, Illinois, unknown
  27. Benjamin F. Smith, 41, Byron, GA, civilian employee at AFB
  28. Bryan F. Stisher, 35, Roswell, GA, online tutor
  29. Karl K. Strenth, Jr., 28, Leesburg, GA, unknown
  30. Thomas C. Toler, 54, St. Mary’s, GA, human resources
  31. Darren Alan Vincent, 47, Trion, GA, manufacturing worker
  32. Darlene Johnson, 49, Valdosta, GA, unemployed
  33. Michael Thor, 45, Valdosta, GA, unemployed
  34. Stephon B. Gary, 31, Valdosta, GA, unemployed

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