Cumming Men Pleaded Guilty to Sex Crimes After Last Year’s Sting Operation

Forsyth County Courthouse

Cumming, Ga. - Authorities out of Forsyth County reported that three local men recently pleaded guilty to various sex crimes.

Each of the men was arrested in the same sting last fall. Police and investigators arrested over twenty people in connection with the operation. The charges ranged from child pornography possession to aggravated child molestation.

Each of the three men mentioned in the Forsyth release all pleaded guilty to sex crimes involving children. And as a Georgia Sex Crimes Attorney, I will outline the law behind one of the commonly charged offenses that resulted from the operation. This offense is known as obscene internet contact with a child.

Obscene Internet Contact with a Child in Georgia

O.C.G.A. § 16-12-100.2(e)(1) defines the law behind the offense of Obscene Internet Contact with a Child in Georgia as:

 A person commits the offense of obscene Internet contact with a child if he or she has contact with someone he or she knows to be a child or with someone he or she believes to be a child via a computer online service or Internet service, including but not limited to a local bulletin board service, Internet chat room, e-mail, or on-line messaging service, and the contact involves any matter containing explicit verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexually explicit nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse that is intended to arouse or satisfy the sexual desire of either the child or the person, provided that no conviction shall be had for a violation of this subsection on the unsupported testimony of a child.

Obscene internet contact involves contacting a minor through email, chat rooms, or other forms of online social networking with the purpose of enticing the minor to commit sexual acts.

It is important to note that no physical act has to happen for a crime to have occurred. A person could be convicted just for for their words to a child. A person who violates this statute will be guilty of a felony and will be punished by a prison term between one and ten years and a fine of no more than $10,000.

However, if the victim was 14 or 15 years old and the defendant was no more than three years older than the victim, then the accused will be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.

Practice Note

If you or someone you know has been arrested for a criminal offense in the state of Georgia, it is important for you to call our offices as soon as possible. We can let you know what options are available through our firm. Contact us today.