LAGRANGE, Ga. - A multi-agency investigation led to the arrest of a 17-year-old LaGrange teenager on 15 felony charges involving online child exploitation and abuse.
Officers arrested Hampton Malone on Friday morning after searching two homes linked to him. Police charged Malone with sexual exploitation of a minor, along with seven counts each of possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material.
What we know:
The LaGrange Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force began looking into the case on June 18 after receiving a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Around 9:30 a.m. on July 24, multiple agencies executed search warrants at the properties tied to Malone. The team included detectives from the LaGrange Police Department, the Carrollton Police Department, and an Electronic Storage Detection K-9 unit from the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office. Malone was taken into custody shortly after the searches.
What we don't know:
Details regarding Malone's upcoming court appearances have also not yet been released.
What you can do:
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Senior Detective W. Hackett at 706-883-2697.
The Source: The information in this article was gathered from a press release by the LaGrange Police Department.