Bremen man charged after child exploitation investigation
Thomas Bruice Smith (Haralson County Sheriff's Office)
BREMEN, Ga. - A Bremen man is facing child exploitation charges after investigators traced online uploads of child sexual abuse material back to his home, according to the Haralson County Sheriff’s Office.
What we know:
On July 3, Investigator Nicole Wilson received a Cybertip through the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children portal. Wilson, a member of the ICAC Task Force and a Crimes Against Children specialist, reviewed the report and found six uploads of child sexual abuse material posted to the messaging app KIK.
Account information from KIK led investigators to an email address, which Wilson was able to trace to a man living in Bremen. After weeks of investigation, authorities identified the suspect and secured a search warrant.
On Aug. 18, deputies with the Criminal Investigative Division, Crime Suppression Unit, and Northwest Georgia Drug Task Force executed the search warrant with assistance from the Secret Service, Murray County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Melinda Flood and her electronics-detection K-9, Maxim, along with Bremen police.
During the search, investigators arrested 54-year-old Thomas Bruice Smith. Eleven electronic devices were located and triaged at the scene, with Maxim assisting in detecting hidden equipment.
Smith is charged with six counts of distributing obscene material and six counts of sexual exploitation of children.
What we don't know:
The sheriff’s office said the case remains active and additional charges are possible.
The Source: The Haralson County Sheriff’s Office provided the details for this article.