PICKENS COUNTY, Ga. – Kelly Eugene Howard, 49, of Pickens County was arrested on Wednesday, Dec. 14 and charged with ‘one count of Sexual Exploitation of Children by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit’.

According to a press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, “The GBI CEACC Unit began an investigation into Howard’s online activity after receiving Cybertip Reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding the possible online possession of child sexual abuse material.  This investigation led to a search warrant at Howard’s residence and his subsequent arrest.  The GBI CEACC unit was assisted in the execution of their search warrant by the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office.”

Following the search of Howard’s residence, he was transported to the Pickens County Jail upon his arrest.

The GBI stated that this investigation is part of an ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) to ‘identify those involved in the trade of child sexual abuse material’.

“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 Unit at 404-270-8870 or report via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline at CyberTipline.org.