Coweta County man sentenced to 20 years in child exploitation case

COWETA COUNTY, Ga. - A Coweta County man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to possessing hundreds of disturbing images and videos of child sexual abuse.

What we know:

Prosecutors said Jesse Crutchfield entered a guilty plea to five counts of sexual exploitation of a child in Coweta County Superior Court. He must serve nine years in custody, with the remainder on probation.

Crutchfield was first arrested last December after investigators with the Internet Crimes Against Children unit arrived at his home. Authorities said he walked outside and immediately placed his hands behind his back, appearing to know why officers were there.

What they're saying:

Senior Assistant District Attorney Megan Bateman said the materials seized were among the worst investigators had ever seen. "There were several online hits that came to law enforcement," Bateman said. "They were able to quickly and actively investigate all of those hits and found that this defendant particularly had hundreds of child pornography images and videos in his possession and was commenting actively on these videos on the internet and messaging with other individuals about being a pedophile. Particularly in this case there was a lot of rape child porn which is particularly disturbing. This is not a victimless crime. Every video and every image that he possessed, a child had to be victimized and unimaginable things had to happen to that child."

What's next:

He is now in the custody of the Georgia Department of Corrections. Bateman said Crutchfield will have to register as a sex offender once released, and warned that if he violates probation he could face more than 100 years in prison for his crimes.