2 picked up in child pornography sting

A sex offender and a mill worker are arrested in Chattooga County.

SUMMERVILLE — A registered sex offender and a Trion mill worker face multiple child pornography charges after a mutually coordinated law enforcement operation between eight southeastern states.

Aaron Cody Helton, 36, and Mount Vernon Mills Technician Darren Vincent, 47, are among 76 people arrested for sharing or downloading pornographic images depicting sexual acts with toddlers and children, according to Chattooga County Sheriff Mark Schrader.

“The investigation targeted the worst of the worse,” the sheriff said.

The sheriff’s office became involved with the multi-state task force when agents discovered pornographic images were being distributed and downloaded in Chattooga County.

Helton, who is classified as a sex offender, previously served a year and nine months in prison on child pornography charges and was released in June 2016. Despite being on parole and told to stay away from the internet, Helton disobeyed and would go to his parents house in Adairsville to download child porn, according to the sheriff.

The sheriff believes child pornography is a growing online problem.

The other local person arrested, Vincent, in the operation was nabbed in Floyd County after a police chase. Vincent fled from Floyd County police in his Toyota Camry and slammed into a stationary Floyd County officer who was blocking traffic in the chase.

The officer was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and was later released.

Vincent was taken to the Floyd County Jail. The Summerville News

Marietta police officers use Narcan to save man’s life

MARIETTA — Marietta police have reported the first case of one of its officers using the opioid-reversal drug Narcan to save someone’s life.

The incident occurred early Monday morning when Officer Jennifer Bostwick was flagged down by another motorist who told her his brother had overdosed after snorting heroin, said Officer Chuck McPhilamy, department spokesman.

McPhilamy said the officer was patrolling Marietta just after midnight Sunday when she was nearly sideswiped by another car that ran a red light at the intersection of Atlanta Road and South Marietta Parkway. The driver jumped out and told her his brother was in the car overdosing.

“He was driving to find someone to help him and literally pulled the officer over,” McPhilamy said.

Backup was called and officers were able to administer the drug to revive the man, who was in the passenger seat.

McPhilamy said while some Marietta officers already carry the overdose reversal drug, the department is in the process of training all 135 of its officers to use it.

Shaddi Abusaid, The Marietta Daily Journal

Students join the ‘March for Our Lives’ in Dalton

DALTON — Joining their fellow students and activists in protests across the nation, more than 300 people marched through downtown Dalton on Saturday, chanting slogans for gun reform and imploring leaders in Washington and in Atlanta to take action to stop gun violence.

The “March for Our Lives” was called for by students from Parkland, Fla., after a shooting there left 14 students and three others dead on Feb. 14.

Starting on Dalton Green, local marchers circled through downtown on sidewalks and came back to the park to hear speeches from students.

“We do know what we are talking about. We have a right to have our voices heard,” said 15-year-old Andrea Norell, a Southeast Whitfield High School student who spoke at the rally. “We are the future of America. They can’t just silence us. We are here to stay and we will be heard. When leaders start making childish decisions and your children make leadership decisions, you know change is coming.”

For many of the speakers, the march became even more personal when Dalton High teacher Randal Davidson barricaded himself in a classroom two weeks after the Parkland shooting. Police say Davidson fired a shot through a window, causing all of the students and staff to evacuate from the area while law enforcement descended on the school. Davidson was taken into custody and no one was injured in the incident, but Dalton freshman Sarah Jaconetti said Feb. 28 was a day that changed her life.

“In that moment, it felt like my safety was taken away from a place that I considered happy,” said Jaconetti, who marched with her two sisters. “I ran out of the school as fast as I could. Today I march because in a moment of seconds, my happy, safe place turned into something so terrifying. No kid or adult should ever have to go through anything like that. We need change now.”

Chris Whitfield, The Dalton Daily Citizen