Man sentenced to 5 years in prison, 15 on probation for sexually exploiting children

WSBTV.com News Staff
·2 min read

The Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office announced a 55-year-old man was given a 20-year sentence for sexually exploiting children and having drugs.

The DA’s office said Allen Joseph Peacock was charged in relation to a 2022 investigation after “an individual close” to him told members of law enforcement that they’d found a message on Snapchat talking about being sexually interested in minors.

Members of law enforcement got a search warrant for his cell phone and “found sexually explicit pictures and videos of unidentified children,” which the DA’s office said Peacock found online.

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Drugs identified as containing tetrahydrocannabinol were also found in Peacock’s home.

“While there was no evidence of Mr. Peacock committing acts of abuse against children, the evidence was clear that the defendant has a deviant sexual interest in children. The harmful and perverse images and videos on his electronics allowed us to prosecute this individual before he could act out his deviant fantasies further,” Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Rachel Hines, of the Special Victims Unit said in a statement.

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The DA’s office said during Peacock’s plea hearing, his sentence was negotiated to 20 years with the first five in prison, with the “balance to serve on probation under sex offender special conditions.”

As a result, Peacock will not be allowed to have contact with anyone under the age of 18 and will have to register as a sex offender upon leaving prison. He was sentenced on April 18, the DA’s office said.

“In Georgia, it is a felony to possess or control sexually explicit material depicting minors,” District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway said in a statement. “By prosecuting and closely monitoring individuals who possess sexually explicit imagery of children, we can be proactive in preventing these offenders from victimizing children in our community.”

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