A Cyber Tipline Report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led to an investigation and subsequent arrest of a young Eatonton woman, authorities say.
On Tuesday, June 17, special agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested 18-year-old Haley Wheeler of Jefferson Road, Eatonton. They charged her with one count of sexual exploitation of children, according to information from the GBI.
After receiving the tip of possible online possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material, special agents with the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit reportedly began investigating Wheeler’s online activity in January of this year.
Deputies with the Putnam County and Morgan County sheriff’s offices assisted the GBI. Putnam Sheriff Howard Sills said Wheeler was in Morgan County at the time of her arrest, but she was booked into Putnam County’s jail.
According to the jail report, Wheeler was booked shortly before 5:30 p.m. on charges of creation or possession with the intent to distribute or sell a visual medium depicting a minor in sexually explicit conduct. Wheeler was released on a $5,000 property bond.
Sills said that the victim in the video was under the age of 10.
The investigation is part of ongoing efforts by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, which is housed with the GBI’s CEACC Unit.
Created by the U.S. Department of Justice, the ICAC Program was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the internet, the heightened online activity by predators searching for underage victims, and the proliferation of child sexual abuse material.
Anyone with information about other cases of child exploitation may call the GBI CEACC Unit at 404-270-8870, or by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), or report it online at CyberTipline.org or gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tipsonline or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.