Two White County men have been charged with sexually exploiting children after a cybertip led authorities to them. Investigators accuse both men of possessing child pornography.
On February 17, GBI agents and White County Sheriff’s deputies executed two residential search warrants related to separate investigations. As a result of those searches, officials arrested 57-year-old Richard Benton and 18-year-old Lazarus Smith, Jr., both of Sautee Nacoochee.
Officers charged Benton with four counts of sexual exploitation of children and Smith with three counts.
The investigations began after the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit received independent and unrelated cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. “Those cybertips involved the possession and/or distribution of explicit child sexual abuse material, commonly referred to as child pornography,” a GBI press release states.
This investigation is part of the GBI’s ongoing effort to crack down on the child pornography trade. Anyone with information about these or other cases is asked to contact the GBI at 404-270-8870 or online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online.
This article has been updated for clarity
