Port Wentworth planning commission chairman arrested on child pornography charges

A Port Wentworth city official was arrested Monday and faces child pornography charges. Clifford James Neesmith, 69, was arrested by the Garden City Police Department and booked into the Chatham County Jail.

Neesmith serves as the chairman of the Port Wentworth Planning Commission and was the past chairman for the Port Wentworth Chamber of Commerce.

He worked for the Families First Funeral Care & Cremation Center in Garden City for about nine years and was formerly their funeral director.

According to Neesmith's Facebook page, he attended Groves High School. He then studied mortuary science at Gupton-Jones College in Decatur, Georgia.

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A warrant for Neesmith's arrest was issued on Sept. 9.  About three weeks prior, Garden City Police collected a black HP laptop from the Family First funeral home that "is supposed to contain pornographic material of prepubescent children," read the incident report. The laptop was then retrieved by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).

According to Georgia's child pornography law, if convicted of the felony charge, the offender could face between one to 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000. Another possible penalty is registering as a sex offender.

Nancy Guan is the general assignment reporter covering Chatham County municipalities. Reach her at nguan@gannett.com or on Twitter @nancyguann.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Clifford James Neesmith arrested on child pornography charges