PCPD nab two on child exploitation charges
Polk County Police made a pair of arrests in recent days that weren’t connected, but came about thanks to the efforts of law enforcement to combat child predators online.
PCPD Detective B. Brady, who is also an agent of the state’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said that recent undercover work brought about the arrest of an Aragon man on May 21, and then another on May 27 thanks to undercover work online.
He said both Walding, 33, and Christopher Layne, 31, of Buchanan, were found while conducting “proactive undercover online investigation” into those who target children online.
In Walding’s case, Brady said that a meet was planned and he showed up thinking he was going to see a 16-year-old girl, but instead found law enforcement waiting. Walding was taken into custody without incident.
Layne had also planned a meeting online, but was later apprehended at his home in Buchanan on the warrants without further incident. Both men remained in jail without bond.
Both men were charged with enticing a child for indecent purposes, criminal attempt to commit a felony, and furnishing obscene material to a minor under 18. Layne faced additional charges of computer pornography and criminal solicitation.
Walding also faced charges of sexual exploitation of children, drugs not in original container, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, driving while license suspended or revoked and driving on a suspended registration.
“I have been a member of this task force for over 5 years, and the men and women assigned to this task force are amazing at what they do,” Brady added.
That task force via the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced another arrest on Thursday in Bartow County.
Preston Nichols, 55, of Cartersville, was arrested and charged with Possession and Distribution of Child Pornography by the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office.
A search warrant was taken out in relation to an investigation by the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office based on Nichol’s reported online activity. He remained in the Bartow County Jail on the charge.
The GBI told Atlanta’s 11Alive in April that cybertips had gone up to 500 tips compared to the figures for the same month in 2019, and have been increasing steadily since 2013 year-over-year.
Internet providers and social media platforms are required to report instances of child exploitation when it found on their sites by federal law, and send information when a crime is occurring to state officials.