(WTXL) — A total of 82 people have been arrested and 17 children have been rescued after a multi-agency child exploitation operation stretching across eight states, to include Florida and Georgia.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Friday that a total of 82 people were arrested and 17 children were rescued or identified as victims during Operation Southern Impact III.
The joint, proactive operation was coordinated by 10 Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. The operation focused on people who possess and distribute child pornography and those who are sexually exploiting children in other ways.
Authorities say the arrestees ranged in age from 20 to 70.
Some of their occupations included non-profit employee, small business owner, store clerk, mechanic, daycare administrator, youth group leader, former high school band director, freelance photographer, construction worker and painter.
861 digital devices were previewed and 1,613 digital devices were seized.
In Georgia, 31 people were arrested during the operation.
Seven of those arrested in Georgia traveled for the purpose of meeting and having sex with a minor, four were registered sex offenders arrested on charges related to child pornography, and one of the registered sex offenders was initially arrested by the GBI during a similar operation in 2015.
Those in custody and charged in Georgia as part of Operation Southern Impact III are:
- James Barfield IV, 51, Atlanta, GA, home improvement store employee
- Dillan M. Bell, 26, Allenhurst, GA, unemployed
- Gerald Chamberlain, 34, Rome, GA, golf course maintenance worker
- Carol Chellew, 56, Jefferson, GA, county employee
- Doug Chellew, 56, Jefferson, GA, department store employee
- Timothy Wayne Diggs, 39, Metter, GA, information technology specialist
- Keith James Diver, 37, Norcross, GA, restaurant employee
- Erick Noe Gonzalez, 26, Buford, GA, landscaper
- Erik Gordon, 30, Morrow, GA, shipping company employee
- Desmond Lemond Hasley, 27, Douglasville, GA, staffing company employee
- Keidron Jayquan Isham, 23, Rome, GA, unemployed
- Claude Martin Johnson IV, 21, Augusta, GA, unemployed
- Andrew Kim, 30, Suwanee, GA, business owner
- Jordan Logan, 33, Grovetown, GA, painter
- Jonathan Craig Manning, 28, Rome, GA, railroad worker
- Andrew J. Martz, 30, Tyrone, GA, student
- Matthew James McDurmond, 26, Cedartown, unknown
- Terry Menard, 61, Roswell, GA, multimedia designer
- Daniel Joseph Mullinax, 35, Auburn, GA, unemployed
- Justin Lee Myers, 22, Cleveland, GA, unknown
- Andrew Benjamin Nelson, 42, Marietta, GA, construction worker
- Michael David Quinn, 44, Roswell, GA, unknown
- Matthew Steven Ramski, 37, Cumming, GA, graphic design artist
- Arlen Lemuel Riddle, 46, Muscadine, AL, fireman
- Malchijah Robinson, 40, Decatur, GA, unemployed
- David Chris Sammons, 33, Eatonton, GA, factory worker
- Omar S. Sanchez-Viera, 40, Jonesboro, GA, health supplement company employee
- Chad Sitzwohl, 35, Dawsonville, GA, factory worker
- Wille D. Slaughter, 33, Valdosta, GA, military veteran
- Wan Yeung Tang, 45, Cumming, GA, dishwasher
- Tyler Wooten, 21, Sharpsburg, GA, student
