A Rincon man was arrested Monday afternoon by Effingham County and Liberty County sheriff’s deputies on charges of possessing child pornography.
Investigators with the Effingham and Liberty sheriff’s offices executed a search warrant, during which Justin Bowie was arrested for sexual exploitation of children. The charges stem from Bowie downloading and being in possession of pornographic images of children, according to authorities.
Bowie, 22, was taken into custody after deputies conducted a search warrant at his residence at 715 West 9th St.
"Protecting our children is one of the highest priorities at the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office, and we will continue to pursue these cases in the future with ICAC," said Effingham Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie.
Both the Liberty and Effingham County Sheriff’s Office are cooperative members of the Georgia Internet Crimes against Children Task Force (ICAC).
"We received information he was downloading child pornography, both images and video, and also sharing those images and videos," said ECSO spokesman Detective David Ehsanipoor.
Deputies found several images and videos on Bowie’s computer, Ehsanipoor said, with the children depicted appearing to be between the ages of 7 and 13. Bowie’s computer was seized as evidence.
As Effingham County investigators were receiving information that Bowie had illicit images and videos, Liberty County deputies also began receiving similar tips.
"It was a joint investigation," Ehsanipoor said. "We shared our information with them and they shared theirs with us."
Said Liberty County Sheriff Steve Sikes: "We have to work together in these cases. We have to. Sheriff McDuffie has always extended a hand to me, and I reciprocate when I can."
Sikes said such joint efforts are necessary to find and arrest those possessing and distributing child pornography.
"This stuff has really gotten out of hand," he said. "It’s gotten more and more prevalent. Thank God we have ways to catch them now."
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 U.S. 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 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies within the state of Georgia.
Bowie is currently being held in the Effingham County Jail.
