Coffee County Man Arrested for the Sexual Exploitation of Children

On Monday, February 5, 2024, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit arrested and charged Lonnie Smith, age 32, of Coffee County, Georgia, with one count of Sexual Exploitation of Children.

The GBI CEACC Unit began an investigation into Smith’s online activity after receiving a Cyber Tipline Report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding the possible online possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material.  This investigation led to a search warrant at Smith’s home and his subsequent arrest. The GBI CEACC unit was aided in the execution of this search warrant by the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office.

Smith was taken to the Coffee County Jail.

This investigation is part of the ongoing effort by the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, housed within the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, to identify those involved in the trade of child sexual abuse material. 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 sexual abuse material, 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 Unit at 404-270-8870 or report via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline at CyberTipline.org.

Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.