Bartow County Man Arrested for Child Sexual Exploitation

On Thursday, May 28, 2020, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit (CEACC) assisted the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations in the execution of a search warrant at the residence of Preston Nichols, 55, of Cartersville, GA. Nichols was arrested and charged with Possession and Distribution of Child Pornography by the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office.

The search warrant was related to an investigation being conducted by the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office pertaining to the online sexual exploitation of children. The investigation began as a result of numerous reports received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) pertaining to Nichols’ online activity.

Nichols is currently being held at the Bartow County Jail. Anyone with information or questions pertaining to this case can contact PIO Jonathan White at the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office at 770-382-5050.

This investigation is part of the ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, housed within the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, to identify those involved in the child pornography trade. The ICAC Program, created by the U. S. Department of Justice, was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the Internet, the proliferation of child pornography, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.

Anyone with information about other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit at 404-270-8870.