The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says it has arrested a Clayton County man on three counts of sexual exploitation of children.
According to a GBI press release, the GBI CEACC Unit investigated Marco Mendoza Escalante’s computer use after getting a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
The GBI, Clayton County Police Department, and Clayton County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant. Escalante, 24, of Riverdale, was charged with three counts of computer pornography and child exploitation and taken to the Clayton County Jail. Online jail records show he was granted $15,000 bond and $2,100 in fees and remained in custody as of press time Monday afternoon. Mendoza is considered innocent of all charges until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.
The investigation was part of an ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, housed in the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, to identify people involved in the trade of child sexual abuse material. 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 child sexual abuse material, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.
Anyone with information about other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Unit at (404) 270-8870.
Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling (800) 597-TIPS(8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
