by Robin Kemp
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says it has arrested four people in Clayton County on child exploitation charges. A fifth person was arrested on drug charges.
At least two children were identified as “possible prior victims of molestation,” the GBI said.
Last week, according to the GBI, agent executed 13 search warrants during “a two-day coordinated effort between the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit and Special Enforcement Team (SET).” GBI Digital Forensic Investigators previewed 57 digital devices. At least seven of those devices were seized as evidence.
They were acting on “numerous cybertips” about possession and distribution of child sexual abuse images, traced to Clayton County, from the National Center from Missing and Exploited Children. Many of those images were “horrific and shocking…involving children of all ages, including very young children.” The GBI added, “There is a known statistical correlation between those who are seeking, collecting, and viewing child sexual abuse material and those that have sexually abused children or are actively sexually abusing children.”
In 2020, the GBI got more than 11,600 cybertips about child pornography. The GBI said it focused its efforts on people who “possess and distribute child sexual abuse images and those who are sexually exploiting children in other ways using technology and the Internet.”
Many people use cellphones to access child porn, according to the GBI.
GBI’s CEACC Unit Special Agent in Charge and Commander of the Georgia ICAC Task Force Debbie Garner said, “the dedicated law enforcement professionals that are part of the GBI and the Georgia ICAC Task Force will not cease searching for those who are producing, trading and collecting this graphic material. We will continue to work with our partners across the state and the country to find, investigate and prosecute these predators and rescue children who are being abused. We are thankful for the efforts of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for managing the cybertip process that produces information that leads us to children that are being sexually abused and have not yet disclosed that unspeakable abuse.”
In 2020, the Georgia ICAC Task Force said, it found 90 kids living with people who were looking at child porn. Of those, more than 50 had been abused by those offenders. 45 people the task force arrested in 2020 “were positively identified as ‘hands-on offenders,’ meaning they had participated in sexual contact with a child.
Other agencies assisting in the two-month-long operation were the Clayton County Police Department, the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office, and the Forest Park Police Department.
Those arrested and charged by the GBI in Clayton County have not been found guilty of the crimes with which they have been charged. By law, they are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law:
- Pedro J. Sanchez Campos, 22, of Riverdale is charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of children and was being held in the Clayton County Jail without bond as of press time.
- Khaila Samone Johnson, 24, of Jonesboro, is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children and was being held in the Clayton County Jail without bond as of press time.
- Clifford E. Lamere, 60, of Riverdale, is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children and one county of violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances act and was being held in the Clayton County Jail without bond as of press time.
- Ilan Dan Xula Osorio, 22, of Jonesboro, is charged with seven counts of sexual exploitation of children and was being held in the Clayton County Jail without bond as of press time.
The GBI said CCPD also arrested Timothy Lewis Allen, 21, on drug charges. No record of his arrest appeared in any of the the Clayton County Jail online inmate rosters as of press time Monday evening.
The Georgia ICAC Task Force is one of 61 such U.S. Department of Justice task forces nationwide that fight online child sexual exploitation. Georgia ICAC includes over 250 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, related criminal justice agencies and prosecutor’s offices, and is run by the GBI. Its job is to help state and local law enforcement agencies fight cyber enticement (online grooming) and child pornography (child sexual abuse) cases. The program offers support to local law enforcement agencies, as well as forensic and investigative services, training, technical assistance, victim services, child abuse prevention, and community education. Between 2018 and 2020, the Georgia ICAC Task Force has made 1,177 arrests.
Last August, 10 people were arrested in Clayton County in a child porn sting.
