By: Joy Purcell
UPDATED: The GBI issued a correction to its original release. Five of the suspects previously listed as being arrested have not been arrested. Below is the updated information.
(Atlanta)- A statewide, multi-jurisdictional crackdown on child cybersex crimes led to the arrests of 26 individuals in Georgia over eleven days. Five of those arrests were made in Northeast Georgia.
Dubbed ‘Operation Sneaky Peach,’ the crackdown was led by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. Twenty-four agencies that are part of the task force participated.
3 months of planning
Operation Sneaky Peach focused on identifying and arresting individuals involved in technology-facilitated crimes against children.
The operation involved three months of planning and included proactive and reactive cases.
Proactive investigations consisted of targeting peer-to-peer network users sharing Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), commonly known as child pornography. It also included undercover chat investigations targeting those who communicated with and arranged to meet what was believed to be a child for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts.
Reactive investigations consisted of working CyberTips received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that involved the possession, distribution, and/or manufacturing of CSAM.
The operation spanned 28 Georgia counties
During Operation Sneaky Peach, law enforcement agencies with the ICAC Task Force executed 34 residential search warrants and 3 additional enforcement actions in 28 counties across the State of Georgia, says GBI Public Affairs Director Nelly Miles.
Digital forensic investigators previewed 296 electronic devices on scene and seized 281 electronic devices, including cell phones, tablets, computers, hard drives, and various electronic data storage devices.
According to Miles, Operation Sneaky Peach identified 30 children who were living in households where online child sexual exploitation was occurring.
Four of those arrested during Operation Sneaky Peach admitted to current or prior hands-on sexual offenses against a child.
33-year-old William Chase Ellis of Cleveland among those arrested in cybersex crimes crackdown
List of suspects and where they were arrested
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 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 was served with a juvenile complaint, the GBI says.
Miles says more arrests are possible once the forensic processing of the seized electronic devices is complete.
Part of an ongoing effort
ICAC Task Force affiliate agencies that participated in Operation Sneaky Peach included the sheriff’s offices in Barrow, Barrow, Bryan Candler, Camden, Cherokee, Fayette, Gilmer, Gwinnett, Hall, Heard, Houston, Jones, and Richmond counties. Police departments in Athens-Clarke County, Gwinnett, Polk, Rincon, and St. Mary’s also assisted.
In addition to the GBI, several other state and federal agencies assisted with Operation Sneaky Peach, including the FBI, Georgia State Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and United States Secret Service
This investigation is part of ICAC’s ongoing effort to identify those involved in the trading of child sexual abuse material. Anyone with information about these cases, or other cases of child exploitation, is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Unit at 404-270-8870.
Anonymous tips may also be submitted 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.
