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Acworth, Cherokee County, Ga. July 21, 2006 In cooperation and coordination with State, Federal and Canadian authorities the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office arrested Phillip Jenkins, 63 years of age, of 5324 Ferry Creek Lane Acworth for Sexual Exploitation of a Child, Obscene internet Contact With a Child, and Electronically Furnishing Obscene Material to a Minor.
The arrest occurred from a cooperative international effort between the Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Department of Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Peel Regional Police Services in Ontario Canada.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Internet Crimes Unit was contacted by the Peel Regional Police Services in Ontario Canada and advised that since June 21st they had been conducting an undercover online investigation by posing as a 14 year old girl. They identified the target of the investigation as Phillip Jenkins in Acworth.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement in turn contacted the Sheriff’s Office who conducted an investigation positively identifying the suspect. Information gained from ICE and Peel Regional Police Services provided probable cause for a search warrant of the suspect’s home which yielded further evidence of the crime.
The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office is a cooperative member of the Internet Crimes Against Children taskforce. The ICAC Task Force Program was created by the Department of Justice to help State and local law enforcement agencies enhance their investigative response to offenders who use the Internet, online communication systems, or other computer technology to sexually exploit children. The program is currently composed of 45 regional Task Force agencies across the nation and is funded by the United States Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Georgia’s ICAC Regional Taskforce is supervised by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation SAC Rusty Grant. Over the past year ICAC has provided extensive training for two detectives and a Lieutenant of the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office regarding online undercover operations as well as conducting sexual exploitation of children investigations.
