Cherokee County man arrested for sexual exploitation of children

WSBTV.com News Staff
·1 min read

A Cherokee County man was arrested on Friday for several sexual exploitation-related crimes, police said.

Joseph Ruben William Wade Thomas, 29, of Cherokee County, after the GBI investigated Thomas’ online activity, following a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding him exploiting children online and allegations of hands-on sexual abuse against children.

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Thomas was charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children, two counts of aggravated child molestation, and two counts of sodomy.

His investigation led to a search warrant of Thomas’ home and his subsequent criminal charges. The GBI was assisted by the Canton Police Department and the Cobb County Police Department.

Thomas is currently in custody at the Cobb County Jail on separate charges stemming from Cobb County.

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This investigation is part of the ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, housed within the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, to identify those involved in the child pornography 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 sexual abuse material, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.

Anyone with information about other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit at 404-270-8870.

Tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS(8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.

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