Towns County Man Arrested for Sexually Exploiting Children Online

Young Harris, GA (January 19, 2021) – On Thursday, January 14, 2021, Towns County resident, Jamie Burnette, age 49, was charged with two counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children (Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material) in violation of O.C.G.A 16-12-100(b)(8) by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit. Multiple reports were received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) pertaining to the same online user who was uploading child sexual exploitation material to the internet. The GBI CEACC Unit initiated an investigation into this online user, which led to the identification of Burnette. A search warrant was executed by the GBI and the Towns County Sheriff’s Office which led to evidence related to crime of sexual exploitation of children, and later the arrest of Burnette.

Burnette was transported to the Towns County Jail upon his arrest.

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 pornography, 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. 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.