On Tuesday, federal and state law enforcement officers began arresting individuals across Georgia accused of sharing child pornography online.

The statewide sweep spanned 37 counties and included the cities of Kingsland, Villa Rica, Augusta, Canton as well as many others. Officers expect to net approximately 55 arrests before the sweep has concluded.

In addition to making arrests, police are looking to seize computers, hard drives, DVDs and any electronic storage devices that may hold child pornography. The investigation, known as Operation Innocent Justice, started last fall and netted 51 arrests earlier this year. During that time, police also seized more than 500 electronic storage devices.

The operation is spearheaded by the Internet Crimes against Children task force which is located in DeKalb County. The task force was developed in 2002 and has resulted in more than 700 arrests since its creation. In 2009 alone, the task force was responsible for arresting 164 individuals. Another 162 people were arrested in 2010.

Our criminal defense lawyers have successfully defended numerous clients charged with possessing and distributing child pornography. In some cases, an accused individual will be unaware that illegal images or videos were being stored on his computer or electronic storage devices. In other cases, the search warrant used by law enforcement to search a person’s home or computer will be defective requiring the suppression of any illegal images or videos found by law enforcement.