A Gwinnett County man was among eleven individuals arrested in late January as part of a months-long investigation into a number of unrelated child exploitation allegations.
James Burns, Jr., 62, faces eight counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children after his arrest, which was part of a joint effort between the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's (GBI) Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit (CEACC) and the GBI’s Special Enforcement Team.
Each of the eleven suspects was arrested after authorities carried out search warrants at their homes between January 23-26.
Burns was being held in the Gwinnett County Jail at last report.
"The operation was the result of months of planning and was named operation 'Happy New Year,'" said Nelly Miles with the GBI's Office of Public & Governmental Affairs. "The CEACC Unit, the host agency for Georgia’s Internet Crimes Against Children’s Task Force, executed a total of 17 search warrants in Clayton, DeKalb, Newton, Spalding, Gwinnett, and Fulton Counties during this four-day period."
The operation apparently began with a number of "CyberTips" that were relayed to the GBI by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and focused on individuals who were alleged to use online file-sharing networks to collect and share "Child Sexual Abuse Material, and individuals engaged in sexually explicit or obscene internet contact with a child."
"Eleven individuals were arrested and charged with Child Exploitation offenses," Miles said on Wednesday evening. "As a result of the search warrants, over 230 digital devices were previewed on scene by GBI digital forensic investigators assigned to the CEACC unit."
Miles said additional arrests are likely forthcoming as the seized devices are subjected to a full digital forensic processing.
The other suspects facing charges as a result of operation "Happy New Year" are included below, as are the specific charges levied against the suspect:
- Clayton County
- Miguel Castillo, age 45; 1 count of Sexual Exploitation of Children
- Joshua Casey, age 37; 1 count of Sexual Exploitation of Children
- Louis Belgio, age 56; 3 counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children
- DeKalb County
- Jeoffrey Jenkins, age 18; 2 counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children
- La’Quantay Stevens, age 23; 5 counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children
- Brent Felix, age 50; 4 counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children
- Newton County
- Sudesh Rajkoomar, age 26; 3 counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children
- Omalin Jahir Perez-Carrasco, age 24; 3 counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children
- Spalding County
- Timothy Smallwood, age 41; 12 counts of Obscene Internet Contact with a Child
- Fulton County
- Jesus Mireles-Aguilar, age 25; 7 counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children
Anyone with information about these cases or other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the GBI Child Exploitation Unit at 404-270-8870.
Tips can also be shared by contacting the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline at CyberTipline.org.
