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STAFF REPORT :::
A Spalding County registered sex offender has been arrested by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s on a new charge of sexual exploitation of children for allegedly possessing child sexual abuse material.
Timothy Woodard, age 44, was arrested Tuesday by the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit.
The CEACC Unit began an investigation into Wood’s online activity after receiving multiple cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alleging Woodard was uploading child sexual abuse material to a popular online platform.
The CEACC Unit, with the assistance of the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia Department of Community Supervision, on Jan. 19 executed a search warrant at Woodard’s residence.
Authorities allege the search of Woodard’s residence by GBI special agents and of his electronic devices by GBI digital forensic investigators produced evidence that led to Woodard’s arrest that same day.
Woodard was previously arrested in 2016 and was subsequently indicted in Henry County on 23 counts of sexual exploitation of children related to the possession of child pornographic material.
In that case, Woodard pled guilty to a negotiated plea of two counts of sexual exploitation of children and was sentenced to a total of 30 years with the first eight to be served in confinement and the remainder to be served on probation.
Woodard was released from prison on June 22, 2020 and placed on parole.
This investigation is part of the ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, housed within the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, to identify those involved in the child pornography trade. 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 pornography 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. 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.
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