Hall County authorities arrested an Oakwood man Tuesday morning on child pornography charges following the execution of a search warrant at his home.
According to Derreck Booth, public information officer with the Hall County Sheriff's Office, investigators arrested Austin Michael Pope, 21, after the search of his home on Ben Hill Drive. Investigators seized several of Pope's electronic devices, which were processed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit.
Pope allegedly transmitted a video on Dec. 14, 2022, of a child between the ages of eight and 10 being sexually abused by a man. He was charged with two felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor for possessing and distributing the video through his Snapchat account.
Investigators have not found evidence indicating that the video was produced locally or involved a local victim.
Pope's arrest culminated an investigation that began on March 24, 2023, after investigators received a cyber tip about the crime from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Pope remained in the Hall County Jail without bond as of Wednesday morning. Additional charges are not anticipated in the case.
