Two Columbia County men were arrested on charges of sexual exploitation of children on Wednesday, Oct. 19.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s news release Friday states Taylor Randall Shellito, 34, and Joshua Paul Barnhill, 40, by the GBI Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit.
The arrests were a result of two unrelated investigations conducted by the special GBI unit. Both investigations stemmed from cyber tip reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about Shellito’s and Barnhill’s involvement in the online possession of child sexual abuse material.
Barnhill was arrested and charged with four counts of sexual exploitation of children. Shellito was arrested and charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of children. Both men were taken to the Columbia County Jail upon arrest.
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This investigation is part of the ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, housed within the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, to identify those involved in the child pornography trade. The 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 (800) 597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
