THOMASTON, GA –On Friday, September 3, agents with the GBI’s  High Technology Investigations Unit (HTIU) obtained arrest warrants charging Jason E. Shumate with two counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children (OCGA 16-12-100).  Shumate is the boyfriend of Deborah Dawn Brantley who was arrested August 25 and charged with Possession of Child Pornography. Brantley was also charged at that time by Upson County Sheriff’s Deputies with Violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act since methamphetamine and meth smoking devices were found in the residence.

Agents along with Sheriff’s Deputies had executed a search warrant on Brantley’s residence at 535 Meadow Drive in Thomaston and discovered images of suspected child pornography on a computer belonging to Brantley.   The search warrant was a result of a Peer to Peer investigation in which the IP address associated with this location was observed sharing images of suspected or known child pornography.
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Following Brantley’s arrest, agents located a second computer used by Shumate and additional child pornography files were found on that computer.   Shumate was arrested at the Upson County Sheriff’s Office after being interviewed by an agent with HTIU.

This investigation is part of the ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, housed within the HTIU, to identify those involved in the child porn trade. 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 pornography, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.

In 2008, the Georgia ICAC Task Force made 109 arrests and in 2009 made 164 arrests. Through July of this year, the Task Force has made 112 arrests.

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Contact Information:

John Bankhead - 404-270-8330

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