To: Metro Atlanta Media
For Immediate Release
Internet Child Porn Trade Targeted by Operation Restore Hope
(Paulding County, GA) As a result of a 3 month investigation coordinated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, 88 search warrants have been executed in Georgia in connection with the distribution of child porn over the Internet. The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office is part of this multiagency effort known as “Operation Restore Hope”, a statewide proactive peer to peer child pornography sharing investigation that was begun in October 2009. From that time until the end of December 2009, information on 88 suspects was developed by the GBI and several ICAC Task Force affiliate agencies.
As a result of this joint investigation, William Noletto of Douglasville was arrested on January 12, 2010 following the execution of a search warrant at his home and charged with one count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor. During the search, images of suspected child porn were found on his computer. The investigation is ongoing. Noletto is currently in the custody of the Paulding County Detention Center. The bond has not been set.
Danny Harden of Hiram was also arrested on January 12, 2010 following the execution of a search warrant at his home and charged with one count of Possession of Marijuana. During the search, images of suspected child porn were found on a computer in the home. The investigation is ongoing. Harden is currently in the custody of the Paulding County Detention Center. The bond has not been set.
A third search warrant was served at a home on Kelley Court in Dallas on January 12, 2010. During the search, images of suspected child porn were found on a computer in the home. An arrest has not yet been made in this case. The investigation is ongoing.
The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office is a cooperative member of the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC). 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 communications systems, or other computer technology to sexually exploit children. The program is currently composed of 61 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 Task Force is supervised by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The Georgia ICAC Task Force is comprised of 107 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies within the State of Georgia.
The agencies that participated in Operation Restore Hope along with the GBI are as follows:
1) United States Secret Service
2) United States Postal Inspection Service
3) Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
4) Federal Bureau of Investigations
5) United States Attorney’s Office Northern District of Georgia
6) United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of Georgia
7) United States Attorney’s Office Middle District of Georgia
8) State of Georgia Attorney General’s Office
9) Bartow County Sheriff’s Office
10) Charlton County Sheriff’s Office
11) Port Wentworth Police Department
12) Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office
13) Clayton County Police Department
14) Cobb County Police Department
15) DeKalb County Police Department
16) Smyrna Police Department
17) Dougherty County Police Department
18) Liberty County Sheriff’s Office
19) Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office
20) Gwinnett County Police Department
21) Hall County Sheriff’s Office
22) Houston County Sheriff’s Office
23) Warner Robins Police Department
24) Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office
25) Columbus Police Department
26) Douglas County Sheriff’s Office
27) Paulding County Sheriff’s Office
28) Richmond County Sheriff’s Office
29) LaGrange Police Department