Man gets 25 years in prison for molestation, child porn
A Ringgold man who pleaded guilty to child molestation and child pornography has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
George Anderson, 39, pleaded guilty March
14 in Catoosa County Superior Court to all counts of a 28-count indictment before Judge
Ralph Van Pelt Jr. He was sentenced to a life sentence, with the first 25 years to be served in prison.
The victim’s mother and stepmother agreed to the plea agreement to keep the victim from having to testify and relive her nightmare, Lookout Mountain District Attorney Chris Arnt said.
According to Arnt, Anderson had been sexually abusing a female relative for several years. He was caught when officers from Homeland Security and the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Department searched his computers as part of a Trump Administration operation to crack down on child pornography.
Anderson was found to be in possession of more than 50,000 images and videos of child pornography.
The victim was then interviewed by the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) and disclosed the years of abuse by Anderson, Arnt said. The victim’s statement was corroborated by videos seized from Anderson, which depicted him engaging in “a horrifying array of sex acts” with the victim, including rape and sodomy.
Arnt, who handled the prosecution of the case, described the case as “one of the most horrific he has worked in over 30 years as a prosecutor.”
“This child abuser deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison,” Arnt said. “We agreed to this sentence to spare this little girl from having to come to court and relive this abuse when she is already struggling mightily to try and rebuild her life.”
Arnt also pointed out that under Georgia law a jury find that an image or video meets the legal definition of child pornography and thus the state is required to display these images and video to the jury. “The resolution of this case with a guilty plea also spares the jurors from being subjected to this horrific filth,” Arnt said.
Arnt thanked the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Department, the Department of Homeland Security, Agent Shawn Owens of Homeland Security, Detective Clay Thompson of the Sheriff’s Department, and the CAC for their work on this case.
“These cases take a tremendous toll on those of us who work on them,” Arnt said. “The detectives, the CAC interviewer, the victim advocates and the prosecutor are all deeply disturbed by them. The hard work and dedication we have in the team in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit to fight for children is truly impressive. We take great pride in being the toughest Judicial Circuit in the state when it comes to sentencing sex offenders.”
The victim’s family stated, “We are finally relieved that the predator is off the streets. We believe that justice was somewhat served but it’s never enough for the trauma that has hit our family. We would like to thank the detectives, officers, investigators, counselors, district attorney’s staff, and everyone who has walked us through the process and the continuous healing of our family.”